Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China
Although previous research has demonstrated the health benefits of water treatment programs, relatively little is known about the effect of water treatment on education. This paper examines the educational benefits to rural youth in China of a majo...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/10/20269513/water-quality-brawn-education-rural-drinking-water-program-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20519 |
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okr-10986-205192021-04-23T14:03:56Z Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China Xu, Lixin Colin Zhang, Jing AGED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AVAILABILITY OF WATER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CHANNEL CHANNELS CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CLEAN WATER CONSTRUCTION COST EFFECTIVENESS DRINKING WATER QUALITY DROUGHT EPIDEMIOLOGY FERTILIZERS FIXED COSTS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH POLICY HEALTH SERVICES HIGH LEVELS HOUSEHOLDS HYGIENE INDUSTRIAL WASTE INFLUENZA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS INTERVENTION LAKES MAINTENANCE COSTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS PESTICIDES PIPED WATER PIPELINE PIPELINES PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOLS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN WATER PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN WATER SUPPLY PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUBLIC WATER PUMPS QUANTITY OF WATER RAINFALL RAINWATER RAINWATER HARVESTING RIVERS RURAL DRINKING WATER RURAL WATER SAFE DRINKING WATER SIBLINGS SPRING WASTE WATER CONTAMINATION WATER COVERAGE WATER CRISIS WATER INFRASTRUCTURE WATER POLLUTANTS WATER POLLUTION WATER PROGRAMS WATER PUMPS WATER QUALITY WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WATER SECTOR WATER SERVICES WATER SOURCE WATER SOURCES WATER SUPPLY WATER SYSTEM WATER TREATMENT WELLS YOUNG WORKERS Although previous research has demonstrated the health benefits of water treatment programs, relatively little is known about the effect of water treatment on education. This paper examines the educational benefits to rural youth in China of a major drinking water treatment program started in the 1980s, perhaps the largest of such programs in the world. By employing a cross-sectional data set (constructed from a longitudinal data set covering two decades) with more than 4,700 individuals between 18 and 25 years old, the analysis finds that this health program has improved the individuals' education substantially, increasing the grades of education completed by 1.08 years. The qualitative results hold when the analysis controls for local educational policies and resources, village dummies, and distance of villages to schools, and by instrumenting the water treatment dummy with villages' topographic features, among others. Moreover, three findings render support to the brawn theory of gender division of labor: girls benefit much more from water treatment than boys in schooling attainment; youth with an older brother benefit more than youth with an older sister; and boys gain more body mass than girls do from having access to treated water. The program can account for the gender gap in educational attainment in rural China in the sample period. Young people that had access to treated plant water in early childhood (0-2 years of age) experienced significantly higher gains in education than those who were exposed to treated water after early childhood. The estimates suggest that this program is highly cost-effective. 2014-11-12T21:43:21Z 2014-11-12T21:43:21Z 2014-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/10/20269513/water-quality-brawn-education-rural-drinking-water-program-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20519 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7054 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Group, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research East Asia and Pacific China |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AVAILABILITY OF WATER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CHANNEL CHANNELS CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CLEAN WATER CONSTRUCTION COST EFFECTIVENESS DRINKING WATER QUALITY DROUGHT EPIDEMIOLOGY FERTILIZERS FIXED COSTS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH POLICY HEALTH SERVICES HIGH LEVELS HOUSEHOLDS HYGIENE INDUSTRIAL WASTE INFLUENZA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS INTERVENTION LAKES MAINTENANCE COSTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS PESTICIDES PIPED WATER PIPELINE PIPELINES PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOLS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN WATER PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN WATER SUPPLY PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUBLIC WATER PUMPS QUANTITY OF WATER RAINFALL RAINWATER RAINWATER HARVESTING RIVERS RURAL DRINKING WATER RURAL WATER SAFE DRINKING WATER SIBLINGS SPRING WASTE WATER CONTAMINATION WATER COVERAGE WATER CRISIS WATER INFRASTRUCTURE WATER POLLUTANTS WATER POLLUTION WATER PROGRAMS WATER PUMPS WATER QUALITY WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WATER SECTOR WATER SERVICES WATER SOURCE WATER SOURCES WATER SUPPLY WATER SYSTEM WATER TREATMENT WELLS YOUNG WORKERS |
| spellingShingle |
AGED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AVAILABILITY OF WATER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CHANNEL CHANNELS CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CLEAN WATER CONSTRUCTION COST EFFECTIVENESS DRINKING WATER QUALITY DROUGHT EPIDEMIOLOGY FERTILIZERS FIXED COSTS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH POLICY HEALTH SERVICES HIGH LEVELS HOUSEHOLDS HYGIENE INDUSTRIAL WASTE INFLUENZA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS INTERVENTION LAKES MAINTENANCE COSTS MIGRANTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS PESTICIDES PIPED WATER PIPELINE PIPELINES PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOLS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN WATER PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN WATER SUPPLY PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUBLIC WATER PUMPS QUANTITY OF WATER RAINFALL RAINWATER RAINWATER HARVESTING RIVERS RURAL DRINKING WATER RURAL WATER SAFE DRINKING WATER SIBLINGS SPRING WASTE WATER CONTAMINATION WATER COVERAGE WATER CRISIS WATER INFRASTRUCTURE WATER POLLUTANTS WATER POLLUTION WATER PROGRAMS WATER PUMPS WATER QUALITY WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WATER SECTOR WATER SERVICES WATER SOURCE WATER SOURCES WATER SUPPLY WATER SYSTEM WATER TREATMENT WELLS YOUNG WORKERS Xu, Lixin Colin Zhang, Jing Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| geographic_facet |
East Asia and Pacific China |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7054 |
| description |
Although previous research has
demonstrated the health benefits of water treatment
programs, relatively little is known about the effect of
water treatment on education. This paper examines the
educational benefits to rural youth in China of a major
drinking water treatment program started in the 1980s,
perhaps the largest of such programs in the world. By
employing a cross-sectional data set (constructed from a
longitudinal data set covering two decades) with more than
4,700 individuals between 18 and 25 years old, the analysis
finds that this health program has improved the
individuals' education substantially, increasing the
grades of education completed by 1.08 years. The qualitative
results hold when the analysis controls for local
educational policies and resources, village dummies, and
distance of villages to schools, and by instrumenting the
water treatment dummy with villages' topographic
features, among others. Moreover, three findings render
support to the brawn theory of gender division of labor:
girls benefit much more from water treatment than boys in
schooling attainment; youth with an older brother benefit
more than youth with an older sister; and boys gain more
body mass than girls do from having access to treated water.
The program can account for the gender gap in educational
attainment in rural China in the sample period. Young people
that had access to treated plant water in early childhood
(0-2 years of age) experienced significantly higher gains in
education than those who were exposed to treated water after
early childhood. The estimates suggest that this program is
highly cost-effective. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Xu, Lixin Colin Zhang, Jing |
| author_facet |
Xu, Lixin Colin Zhang, Jing |
| author_sort |
Xu, Lixin Colin |
| title |
Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| title_short |
Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| title_full |
Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| title_fullStr |
Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Water Quality, Brawn, and Education : The Rural Drinking Water Program in China |
| title_sort |
water quality, brawn, and education : the rural drinking water program in china |
| publisher |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/10/20269513/water-quality-brawn-education-rural-drinking-water-program-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20519 |
| _version_ |
1764445584955015168 |