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Perception of Health Risk and Averting Behavior: An Analysis of Household Water Consumption in Southwest Sri Lanka

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  • Nauges, Céline
  • Van Den Berg, Caroline

Abstract

Using household data from surveys made in Sri Lanka, we provide original results regarding i) factors driving the perception of risk related to water consumption and ii) the role of perceived risk on household’s decision to treat water before drinking it. First, we find evidence that water aesthetic attributes (taste, smell, and color), household’s education and information about hygiene practices drive household’s assessment of safety risk. Second, we show that a higher perceived risk increases the probability that households boil or filter water before drinking it.

Suggested Citation

  • Nauges, Céline & Van Den Berg, Caroline, 2009. "Perception of Health Risk and Averting Behavior: An Analysis of Household Water Consumption in Southwest Sri Lanka," TSE Working Papers 09-139, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:22256
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    Cited by:

    1. Sisira S. Withanachchi & Ilia Kunchulia & Giorgi Ghambashidze & Rami Al Sidawi & Teo Urushadze & Angelika Ploeger, 2018. "Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Wa’el A. Hussien & Fayyaz A. Memon & Dragan A. Savic, 2016. "Assessing and Modelling the Influence of Household Characteristics on Per Capita Water Consumption," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(9), pages 2931-2955, July.
    3. Lanz, Bruno & Provins, Allan, 2017. "Using averting expenditures to estimate the demand for public goods: Combining objective and perceived quality," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 20-35.
    4. Choumert, Johanna & Stage, Jesper & Uwera, Claudine, 2014. "Access to water as determinant of rental values: A housing hedonic analysis in Rwanda," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 48-54.
    5. Armand Totouom & Sostaine Romuald Fouéka Tagne & Jonas Ngouhouo Poufoun, 2018. "Determinants of the avoidance behaviour of householdsto cope with unsafe drinking water: case study of Doualaand Yaoundé in Cameroon," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 99(2), pages 121-148.
    6. Céline Nauges & Dale Whittington, 2010. "Estimation of Water Demand in Developing Countries: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 263-294, August.
    7. Eric Nazindigouba KERE & Johanna CHOUMERT & Amandine Loyal LARÉ-DONDARINI, 2014. "The impact of water and sanitation access on housing values: The case of Dapaong, Togo," Working Papers 201403, CERDI.
    8. Totouom Fotue Luc Armand & Sostaine Romuald Foueka Tagne & Jonas Ngouhouo Poufoun, 2018. "Demand For Improved Water Quality: An Analysis of Averting Actions by Cameroonian Households," Working Papers 345, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.
    9. Johanna CHOUMERT & Jesper STAGE & Claudine UWERA, 2014. "Access to water as a determinant of rental values: A hedonic analysis in Rwanda," Working Papers 201401, CERDI.
    10. Patrick Lloyd-Smith & Craig Schram & Wiktor Adamowicz & Diane Dupont, 2018. "Endogeneity of Risk Perceptions in Averting Behavior Models," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(2), pages 217-246, February.
    11. Jhanel F. Chew & Laura Corlin & Fernando Ona & Sarah Pinto & Esther Fenyi-Baah & Bernard G. Osei & David M. Gute, 2019. "Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-13, October.
    12. Daniel, D. & Pande, Saket & Rietveld, Luuk, 2022. "Endogeneity in water use behaviour across case studies of household water treatment adoption in developing countries," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    13. Rajapakshe, Sisira & Termansen, Mette & Paavola, Jouni, 2022. "Valuing Water Service Improvements through Revealed Preference: Averting Behaviour Method," MPRA Paper 115623, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Okumah, Murat & Yeboah, Ata Senior & Bonyah, Sylvester Kwaku, 2020. "What matters most? Stakeholders’ perceptions of river water quality," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. D Daniel & Mita Sirait & Saket Pande, 2020. "A hierarchical Bayesian Belief Network model of household water treatment behaviour in a suburban area: A case study of Palu—Indonesia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, November.
    16. Onjala, Joseph & Ndiritu, Simon Wagura & Stage, Jesper, 2013. "Risk Perception, Choice of Drinking Water, and Water Treatment: Evidence from Kenyan Towns," RFF Working Paper Series dp-13-10-efd, Resources for the Future.
    17. Samrat B. Kunwar & Alok K. Bohara, 2019. "Water Quality Avoidance Behavior: Bridging the Gap between Perception and Reality," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(02), pages 1-33, November.
    18. Zhengtao Li & Henk Folmer, 2023. "Air pollution and perception-based averting behaviour in the Jinchuan mining area, China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(2), pages 477-505, April.
    19. Claudine Uwera & Jesper Stage, 2015. "Water Demand by Unconnected Urban Households in Rwanda," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(01), pages 1-28.

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    Keywords

    water consumption; risk perception; averting behavior;
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