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Water and Its Effect on Business Productivity: A Cross-Country Analysis

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  • Vasanthakumar Bhat

Abstract

Using a unique survey database of more than 55,000 firms in more than 100 countries, we explore the impact of water and its scarcity on firms. Even though, about 1 in 3 firms require water and 1 in 4 of those firms experience insufficient water supply, productivity of firms using water is higher than productivity of firms not requiring water. Even with or without water shortage problems, productivity of large firms using water is higher than productivity of all other firms. Productivity of manufacturing firms requiring no water is lower than productivity of all other firms. A firm’s perception about corruption does not have any influence on its productivity irrespective of whether it uses water or it experiences water scarcity. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Vasanthakumar Bhat, 2015. "Water and Its Effect on Business Productivity: A Cross-Country Analysis," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(11), pages 4007-4020, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:29:y:2015:i:11:p:4007-4020
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-015-1042-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Randy A. Becker, 2016. "Water Use and Conservation in Manufacturing: Evidence from U.S. Microdata," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(12), pages 4185-4200, September.
    2. Otienoa, Jackson & Cook, Joseph & Fuente, David, 2023. "The coping costs of dealing with unreliable water supply in the Nairobi commercial sector," EfD Discussion Paper 23-3, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    3. Randy A. Becker, 2016. "Water Use and Conservation in Manufacturing: Evidence from U.S. Microdata," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(12), pages 4185-4200, September.

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    Keywords

    Water; Scarcity; Productivity;
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