IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v92y2018icp35-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

(Not so) gently down the stream: River pollution and health in Indonesia

Author

Listed:
  • Garg, Teevrat
  • Hamilton, Stuart E.
  • Hochard, Jacob P.
  • Kresch, Evan Plous
  • Talbot, John

Abstract

Waterborne diseases, often arising from freshwater pollution, are a leading cause of mortality in developing countries. However, data limitations inhibit our understanding of the extent of damage arising from freshwater pollution. We employ a novel hydrological approach combined with village census data to study the effect of upstream polluting behavior on downstream health in Indonesia. We find that upstream use of rivers for bathing and associated sanitary practices can explain as many as 7.5% of all diarrhea-related deaths annually. We also find suggestive evidence for differential avoidance behavior in response to different pollutants. Our approach relies on publicly available satellite data, open source hydrological models, and coarse village census data allowing us to estimate health externalities from river pollution in particularly vulnerable and data poor environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Garg, Teevrat & Hamilton, Stuart E. & Hochard, Jacob P. & Kresch, Evan Plous & Talbot, John, 2018. "(Not so) gently down the stream: River pollution and health in Indonesia," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 35-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:92:y:2018:i:c:p:35-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.08.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069618305333
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2018.08.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    2. Janet Currie & Joshua Graff Zivin & Katherine Meckel & Matthew Neidell & Wolfram Schlenker, 2013. "Something in the water: contaminated drinking water and infant health," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(3), pages 791-810, August.
    3. Gamper-Rabindran, Shanti & Khan, Shakeeb & Timmins, Christopher, 2010. "The impact of piped water provision on infant mortality in Brazil: A quantile panel data approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 188-200, July.
    4. Dasgupta, Purnamita, 2004. "Valuing health damages from water pollution in urban Delhi, India: a health production function approach," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 83-106, February.
    5. Carole Excell & ELIZABETH Moses, 2017. "Thirsting for Justice: Transparency and Poor People’s Struggle for Clean Water in Indonesia, Mongolia, and Thailand," Working Papers id:12066, eSocialSciences.
    6. Jalan, Jyotsna & Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Does piped water reduce diarrhea for children in rural India?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 153-173, January.
    7. Richard T. Carson & Phoebe Koundouri & Céline Nauges, 2010. "Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh: A Household Labor Market Approach," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(2), pages 407-414.
    8. Molly Lipscomb & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2017. "Decentralization and Pollution Spillovers: Evidence from the Re-drawing of County Borders in Brazil," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(1), pages 464-502.
    9. Timothy J. Bartik, 2008. "Evaluating the Benefits of Non-marginal Reductions in Pollution Using Information on Defensive Expenditures," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Joseph Herriges & Catherine L. Kling (ed.),Revealed Preference Approaches to Environmental Valuation, volume 0, pages 459-475, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. Chen, Zhao & Kahn, Matthew E. & Liu, Yu & Wang, Zhi, 2018. "The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 468-485.
    11. Raymond P. Guiteras & David I. Levine & Stephen P. Luby & Thomas H. Polley & Kaniz Khatun-e-Jannat & Leanne Unicomb, 2016. "Disgust, Shame, and Soapy Water: Tests of Novel Interventions to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(2), pages 321-359.
    12. Avraham Ebenstein, 2012. "The Consequences of Industrialization: Evidence from Water Pollution and Digestive Cancers in China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 186-201, February.
    13. Esther Duflo & Michael Greenstone & Raymond Guiteras & Thomas Clasen, 2015. "Toilets Can Work: Short and Medium Run Health Impacts of Addressing Complementarities and Externalities in Water and Sanitation," NBER Working Papers 21521, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Janet Currie & Joshua Graff Zivin & Jamie Mullins & Matthew Neidell, 2014. "What Do We Know About Short- and Long-Term Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Pollution?," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 217-247, October.
    15. Michael Kremer & Jessica Leino & Edward Miguel & Alix Peterson Zwane, 2011. "Spring Cleaning: Rural Water Impacts, Valuation, and Property Rights Institutions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 145-205.
    16. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2013. "Environment, Health, and Human Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 689-730, September.
    17. Cai, Hongbin & Chen, Yuyu & Gong, Qing, 2016. "Polluting thy neighbor: Unintended consequences of China׳s pollution reduction mandates," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 86-104.
    18. Michael Greenstone & B. Kelsey Jack, 2013. "Envirodevonomics: A Research Agenda for a Young Field," NBER Working Papers 19426, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Amrita Ahuja & Michael Kremer & Alix Peterson Zwane, 2010. "Providing Safe Water: Evidence from Randomized Evaluations," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 237-256, October.
    20. Christopher B. Barrett & Teevrat Garg & Linden McBride, 2016. "Well-Being Dynamics and Poverty Traps," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 303-327, October.
    21. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    22. Matthew E. Kahn & Pei Li & Daxuan Zhao, 2015. "Water Pollution Progress at Borders: The Role of Changes in China's Political Promotion Incentives," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 223-242, November.
    23. Nava Ashraf & James Berry & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2010. "Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2383-2413, December.
    24. Do, Quy-Toan & Joshi, Shareen & Stolper, Samuel, 2018. "Can environmental policy reduce infant mortality? Evidence from the Ganga Pollution Cases," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 306-325.
    25. Olivier Deschenes & Michael Greenstone & Joseph S. Shapiro, 2012. "Defensive Investments and the Demand for Air Quality: Evidence from the NOx Budget Program and Ozone Reductions," NBER Working Papers 18267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    27. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell & Wolfram Schlenker, 2011. "Water Quality Violations and Avoidance Behavior: Evidence from Bottled Water Consumption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 448-453, May.
    28. Yoshitsugu Kitazawa, 2011. "Average elasticity in the framework of the fixed effects logit model," Discussion Papers 49, Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sajid, Osama & Bevis, Leah E.M., 2021. "Flooding and child health: Evidence from Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Yudhistira, Muhammad Halley & Karimah, Indra Degree & Maghfira, Nadya Rahmi, 2022. "The effect of port development on coastal water quality: Evidence of eutrophication states in Indonesia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    3. Evan Plous Kresch & Molly Lipscomb & Laura Schechter, 2020. "Externalities and Spillovers from Sanitation and Waste Management in Urban and Rural Neighborhoods," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 395-420, September.
    4. Garg, Teevrat, 2019. "Ecosystems and human health: The local benefits of forest cover in Indonesia," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    5. Zaveri,Esha Dilip & Russ,Jason Daniel & Desbureaux,Sebastien Gael & Damania,Richard & Rodella,Aude-Sophie & Ribeiro Paiva De Souza,Giovanna, 2020. "The Nitrogen Legacy : The Long-Term Effects of Water Pollution on Human Capital," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9143, The World Bank.
    6. Dongmin Kong & Mengxu Xiong & Ni Qin, 2023. "Tax incentives and firm pollution," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(3), pages 784-813, June.
    7. Matías Piaggio & Marisol Guzman & Eduardo Pacay & Juan Robalino & Taylor Ricketts, 2024. "Forest Cover and Dengue in Costa Rica: Panel Data Analysis of the Effects of Forest Cover Change on Hospital Admissions and Outbreaks," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(8), pages 2095-2114, August.
    8. Wang, Haoluan, 2021. "Flood Your Neighbors: Spillover Effects of Levee Building," 95th Annual Conference, March 29-30, 2021, Warwick, UK (Hybrid) 311091, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    9. Jens Gudmundsson & Jens Leth Hougaard, 2021. "River pollution abatement: Decentralized solutions and smart contracts," IFRO Working Paper 2021/07, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics, revised Oct 2021.
    10. Saraswat, Deepak, 2024. "Gender composition of children and sanitation behavior in India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Claire Lepault, 2023. "Is urban wastewater treatment effective in India? Evidence from water quality and infant mortality," CIRED Working Papers hal-04232407, HAL.
    12. Do, Quy-Toan & Joshi, Shareen & Stolper, Samuel, 2018. "Can environmental policy reduce infant mortality? Evidence from the Ganga Pollution Cases," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 306-325.
    13. Leah E. M. Bevis & Kichan Kim, 2022. "Soil mineral availability and human mineral status: A review and evidence from Malawi," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 822-847, June.
    14. Wang, Haoluan, 2020. "Flood Your Neighbors: The Economic Impacts of Levee Building," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304382, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Mélanie Gittard & Irène Hu, 2024. "MiningLeaks Water Pollution and Child Mortality in Africa," CIRED Working Papers halshs-04685390, HAL.
    16. Na Lu & Kira M. Villa, 2022. "Agricultural support and contaminated spillovers: The effects of agricultural water pollution on adult health in China," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 788-821, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David A Keiser & Joseph S Shapiro, 2019. "Consequences of the Clean Water Act and the Demand for Water Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 349-396.
    2. Li, Li & Xiao, Yun, 2023. "Beyond boiling: The effect of in utero exposure to treated tap water on childhood health," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. David A. Keiser & Joseph K. Shapiro, 2018. "Consequences of the Clean Water Act and the Demand for Water Quality," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 17-wp571, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    4. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2013. "Environment, Health, and Human Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 689-730, September.
    5. Mettetal, Elizabeth, 2019. "Irrigation dams, water and infant mortality: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 17-40.
    6. Matthew E. Kahn & Nancy Lozano‐Gracia & Maria Edisa Soppelsa, 2021. "Pollution'S Role In Reducing Urban Quality Of Life In The Developing World," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 330-347, February.
    7. Do, Quy-Toan & Joshi, Shareen & Stolper, Samuel, 2018. "Can environmental policy reduce infant mortality? Evidence from the Ganga Pollution Cases," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 306-325.
    8. Pan, Dan & Chen, Huan & Zhang, Ning & Kong, Fanbin, 2023. "Do livestock environmental regulations reduce water pollution in China?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    9. Koichiro Ito & Shuang Zhang, 2020. "Willingness to Pay for Clean Air: Evidence from Air Purifier Markets in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(5), pages 1627-1672.
    10. Jessoe, Katrina, 2013. "Improved source, improved quality? Demand for drinking water quality in rural India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 460-475.
    11. Chen, Zhao & Kahn, Matthew E. & Liu, Yu & Wang, Zhi, 2018. "The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 468-485.
    12. Schady, Norbert, 2015. "Does Access to Better Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Improve Child Outcomes? Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7369, Inter-American Development Bank.
    13. Manhong Shen & Yongliang Yang, 2017. "The Water Pollution Policy Regime Shift and Boundary Pollution: Evidence from the Change of Water Pollution Levels in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-22, August.
    14. Sonia R. Bhalotra & Alberto Diaz-Cayeros & Grant Miller & Alfonso Miranda & Atheendar S. Venkataramani, 2017. "Urban Water Disinfection and Mortality Decline in Developing Countries," Working Papers 467, Center for Global Development.
    15. James Berry & Greg Fischer & Raymond Guiteras, 2020. "Eliciting and Utilizing Willingness to Pay: Evidence from Field Trials in Northern Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(4), pages 1436-1473.
    16. Guojun He & Jeffrey M. Perloff, 2016. "Surface Water Quality and Infant Mortality in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 119-139.
    17. Norbert Schady, 2015. "Does Access to Better Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Improve Child Outcomes? Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 92337, Inter-American Development Bank.
    18. Pascaline Dupas & Edward Miguel, 2016. "Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries," NBER Working Papers 22235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Nava Ashraf & Edward Glaeser & Abraham Holland & Bryce Millett Steinberg, 2021. "Water, Health and Wealth: The Impact of Piped Water Outages on Disease Prevalence and Financial Transactions in Zambia," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(351), pages 755-781, July.
    20. Jerch, Rhiannon L. & Phaneuf, Daniel J., 2024. "Cities and water quality," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Water pollution; Diarrhea; Indonesia; River networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:92:y:2018:i:c:p:35-53. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.