Sanitation and Education
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 9,
no. 2, April 2017
(pp. 23-59)
Abstract
I explore whether the absence of school sanitation infrastructure impedes educational attainment, particularly among pubescent-age girls, using a national Indian school latrine construction initiative and administrative school-level data. School latrine construction substantially increases enrollment of pubescent-age girls, though predominately when providing sex-specific latrines. Privacy and safety appear to matter sufficiently for pubescent-age girls that only sex-specific latrines reduce gender disparities. Any latrine substantially benefits younger girls and boys, who may be particularly vulnerable to sickness from uncontained waste. Academic test scores did not increase following latrine construction, however. Estimated increases in enrollment are similar across the substantial variation in Indian district characteristics.Citation
Adukia, Anjali. 2017. "Sanitation and Education." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9 (2): 23-59. DOI: 10.1257/app.20150083Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I25 Education and Economic Development
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O53 Economywide Country Studies: Asia including Middle East
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