Segregation and the Initial Provision of Water in the United States
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 112,
May 2022
(pp. 193-98)
Abstract
US cities invested heavily in water and sewer infrastructure throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These investments improved public health and quality of life by helping US cities control typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases. We show that segregated cities invested in water infrastructure earlier but were slower to reach universal access and slower to eliminate typhoid fever. We develop a theoretical model that illustrates how segregation, by facilitating the exclusion of Black households from water and sewer systems, explains these seemingly paradoxical findings.Citation
Beach, Brian, John Parman, and Martin Saavedra. 2022. "Segregation and the Initial Provision of Water in the United States." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 193-98. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221067Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- L95 Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N91 Regional and Urban History: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913