IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v49y2016icp30-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health costs of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Assam, India

Author

Listed:
  • Mahanta, Ratul
  • Chowdhury, Jayashree
  • Nath, Hiranya K.

Abstract

This paper estimates the health costs of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Assam, India, where nearly one million people are affected. Applying the Three Stage Least Square (3SLS) procedure to data collected through a primary survey of 355 households in 2013, it estimates three structural equations to determine health costs due to arsenic contamination. The estimates show that the average annual health cost of a 1 microgram increase in arsenic concentration per liter of drinking water is about INR4 per household. Furthermore, if the average level of arsenic concentration is reduced to the safe limit of 50 microgram per liter, the average annual welfare gain for a household is estimated to be INR 862 (USD 14). Projecting these figures to the entire arsenic-affected population of Assam, the annual health costs of a 1 microgram increase in arsenic concentration per liter are estimated to be about INR 0.76 million (USD 0.01 million) and the welfare gains from reducing the level of arsenic concentration to the safe limit are estimated to be INR 153 million (USD 2.49 million). The results also indicate that these health costs and welfare gains vary significantly across different levels of arsenic concentration and across districts. Finally, the paper draws policy implications for providing safe drinking water in Assam.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahanta, Ratul & Chowdhury, Jayashree & Nath, Hiranya K., 2016. "Health costs of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Assam, India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 30-42.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:49:y:2016:i:c:p:30-42
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2015.11.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592615300436
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2015.11.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joyashree Roy, "undated". "Estimating the Economic Benefits of Arsenic Removal in India: A Case Study from West Bengal," Working papers 15, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    2. Jyotsna Jalan & E. Somanathan & Saraswata Choudhuri, "undated". "Awareness and the Demand for Environmental Quality: Drinking Water in Urban India," Working papers 32, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    3. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012 (Arabic Version)," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 462.
    4. Mirajul Haq & Usman Mustafa & Iftikhar Ahmad, 2007. "Household s Willingness to Pay for Safe Drinking Water: A Case Study of Abbottabad District," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 1137-1153.
    5. Iftikhar Ahmad & Miraj ul Haq & Abdul Sattar, 2010. "Factors Determining Public Demand for Safe Drinking Water (A Case Study of District Peshawar)," PIDE-Working Papers 2010:58, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    6. Dasgupta, Purnamita, 2004. "Valuing health damages from water pollution in urban Delhi, India: a health production function approach," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 83-106, February.
    7. Usha Gupta, 2006. "Valuation of Urban Air Pollution: A Case Study of Kanpur City in India," Working Papers id:668, eSocialSciences.
    8. Usha Gupta, "undated". "Valuation of Urban Air Pollution: A Case Study of Kanpur City in India," Working papers 19, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    9. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    10. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 461.
    11. David Maddison & Rosa Catala-Luque & David Pearce, 2005. "Valuing the Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in Bangladesh," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 31(4), pages 459-476, August.
    12. Reddy, V. Ratna & Behera, Bhagirath, 2006. "Impact of water pollution on rural communities: An economic analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 520-537, June.
    13. AfDB AfDB, . "Zambia Country Office Annual Report 2012," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 975.
    14. repec:ind:iegddp:62 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012 (Portuguese Version)," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 463.
    16. WorldFish, 2013. "Annual report 2012/13," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 40306, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Deane, Felicity & Wilson, Clevo & Rowlings, David & Webb, Jeremy & Mitchell, Elaine & Hamman, Evan & Sheppard, Eva & Grace, Peter, 2018. "Sugarcane farming and the Great Barrier Reef: the role of a principled approach to change," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 691-698.
    2. Barnwal, Prabhat & van Geen, Alexander & von der Goltz, Jan & Singh, Chander Kumar, 2017. "Demand for environmental quality information and household response: Evidence from well-water arsenic testing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 160-192.
    3. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Economic preferences across generations and family clusters: A large-scale experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14998, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Alessandro Tarozzi & Ricardo Maertens & Kazi Matin Ahmed & Alexander van Geen, 2021. "Demand for Information on Environmental Health Risk, Mode of Delivery, and Behavioral Change: Evidence from Sonargaon, Bangladesh," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(3), pages 764-792.
    5. Aggarwal, Khushboo & Barua, Rashmi & Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, 2024. "Still Waters Run Deep: Groundwater Contamination and Education Outcomes in India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Debasish Kumar Das & Md. Sariful Islam & Sheikh Hadiujjaman & Champa Bati Dutta & Md. Manjur Morshed, 2019. "Health cost of salinity contamination in drinking water: evidence from Bangladesh," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(3), pages 371-397, July.
    7. Elsner, Benjamin & Wozny, Florian, 2018. "The Human Capital Cost of Radiation: Long-Run Evidence from Exposure Outside the Womb," IZA Discussion Papers 11408, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Thakur, Barun Kumar & Gupta, Vijaya, 2019. "Valuing health damages due to groundwater arsenic contamination in Bihar, India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 123-132.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tarek Roshdy Gebba & Mohamed Gamal Aboelmaged, 2016. "Corporate Governance of UAE Financial Institutions: A Comparative Study between Conventional and Islamic Banks," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 6(5), pages 1-7.
    2. Flood, Mark D. & Lemieux, Victoria L. & Varga, Margaret & William Wong, B.L., 2016. "The application of visual analytics to financial stability monitoring," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 180-197.
    3. Molyneaux, Lynette & Wagner, Liam & Foster, John, 2016. "Rural electrification in India: Galilee Basin coal versus decentralised renewable energy micro grids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 422-436.
    4. World Bank Group, 2015. "FYR Macedonia Public Expenditure Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 23808, The World Bank Group.
    5. García-Posada, Miguel & Marchetti, Marcos, 2016. "The bank lending channel of unconventional monetary policy: The impact of the VLTROs on credit supply in Spain," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 427-441.
    6. Yang, Daojian & Qi, Ershi & Li, Yajiao, 2015. "Quick response and supply chain structure with strategic consumers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Marshall, Jonathan Paul, 2016. "Disordering fantasies of coal and technology: Carbon capture and storage in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 288-298.
    8. Völker, Marc & Lienhoop, Nele, 2016. "Exploring group dynamics in deliberative choice experiments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 57-67.
    9. Fawsitt, Christopher G. & Bourke, Jane & Greene, Richard A. & McElroy, Brendan & Krucien, Nicolas & Murphy, Rosemary & Lutomski, Jennifer E., 2017. "What do women want? Valuing women’s preferences and estimating demand for alternative models of maternity care using a discrete choice experiment," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(11), pages 1154-1160.
    10. Fisher, Anthony, 2014. "Climate Science and Climate Economics," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt746627gz, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    11. Augustine Mulolwa, 2016. "Land Governance Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 28503, The World Bank Group.
    12. Bucher, R. & Jeffrey, H. & Bryden, I.G. & Harrison, G.P., 2016. "Creation of investor confidence: The top-level drivers for reaching maturity in marine energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 120-129.
    13. Salom, Jaume & Marszal, Anna Joanna & Widén, Joakim & Candanedo, José & Lindberg, Karen Byskov, 2014. "Analysis of load match and grid interaction indicators in net zero energy buildings with simulated and monitored data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 119-131.
    14. Abdymomunov, Azamat & Gerlach, Jeffrey, 2014. "Stress testing interest rate risk exposure," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 287-301.
    15. Whyte, Randall & Lohmann, Gui, 2015. "The carrier-within-a-carrier strategy: An analysis of Jetstar," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 141-148.
    16. Lechman, Ewa & Marszk, Adam, 2015. "ICT technologies and financial innovations: The case of exchange traded funds in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United States," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 355-376.
    17. Stern, Ariel Dora, 2017. "Innovation under regulatory uncertainty: Evidence from medical technology," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 181-200.
    18. Sinthumule Ndidzulafhi Innocent, 2016. "Multiple-land use practices in transfrontier conservation areas: the case of Greater Mapungubwe straddling parts of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 34(34), pages 103-115, December.
    19. Malkawi, Salaheddin & Al-Nimr, Moh'd & Azizi, Danah, 2017. "A multi-criteria optimization analysis for Jordan's energy mix," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 680-696.
    20. Diana Hancock & Wayne Passmore, 2015. "How Does the Federal Reserve's Large-Scale Asset Purchases (LSAPs) Influence Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Yields and U.S. Mortgage Rates?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(4), pages 855-890, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:49:y:2016:i:c:p:30-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.