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1 Bennear, L.; Tarozzi, A.; Pfaff, A.; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Ahmed, K. M.; van Geen, A. 2013. Impact of a randomized controlled trial in arsenic risk communication on household water-source choices in Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 65(2):225–240. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2012.07.006]
Drinking water ; Groundwater ; Wells ; Arsenic ; Health hazards ; Households ; Models / Bangladesh / Araihazar Upazila
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045010)
(1.73 MB)
We conducted a randomized controlled trial in rural Bangladesh to examine how household drinking-water choices were affected by two different messages about risk from naturally occurring groundwater arsenic. Households in both randomized treatment arms were informed about the arsenic level in their well and whether that level was above or below the Bangladesh standard for arsenic. Households in one group of villages were encouraged to seek water from wells below the national standard. Households in the second group of villages received additional information explaining that lower-arsenic well water is always safer and these households were encouraged to seek water from wells with lower levels of arsenic, irrespective of the national standard. A simple model of household drinking-water choice indicates that the effect of the emphasis message is theoretically ambiguous. Empirically, we find that the richer message had a negative, but insignificant, effect on well-switching rates, but the estimates are sufficiently precise that we can rule out large positive effects. The main policy implication of this finding is that a one-time oral message conveying richer information on arsenic risks, while inexpensive and easily scalable, is unlikely to be successful in reducing exposure relative to the status-quo policy.
2 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Pfaff, A.; Bennear, L.; Tarozzi, A.; Ahmed, K. M.; Schoenfeld, A.; Van Geen, A. 2014. Evolution of households’ responses to the groundwater arsenic crisis in Bangladesh: information on environmental health risks can have increasing behavioral impact over time. Environment and Development Economics, 19:631-647. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X13000612]
Arsenic ; Groundwater ; Environmental health ; Health hazards ; Households ; Wells ; Drinking water / Bangladesh / Araihazar Upazila
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046376)
(0.31 MB)
A national campaign of well testing through 2003 enabled households in rural Bangladesh to switch, at least for drinking water, from high-arsenic wells to neighboring lower arsenic wells. We study the well-switching dynamics over time by re-interviewing, in 2008, a randomly selected subset of households in the Araihazar region who had been interviewed in 2005. Contrary to concerns that the impact of arsenic information on switching behavior would erode over time, we find that not only was 2003–2005 switching highly persistent but also new switching by 2008 doubled the share of households at unsafe wells who had switched. The passage of time also had a cost: 22 per cent of households did not recall test results by 2008. The loss of arsenic knowledge led to staying at unsafe wells and switching from safe wells. Our results support ongoing well testing for arsenic to reinforce this beneficial information.
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