IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16214.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Information Campaign on Arsenic Poisoning: Unintended Consequences in Marriage Market

Author

Listed:
  • Chowdhury, Shyamal

    (University of Sydney)

  • Singh, Prachi

    (University of Aberdeen)

Abstract

Unintended consequences of public policies, while common, are under-studied and often unaccounted for in economic analysis. In this paper we study the unintended consequences of a public information campaign on water quality on the marriage market in rural Bangladesh. Despite being heavily contaminated with arsenic, groundwater was the main source of drinking water for rural dwellers in Bangladesh since the 1970s. This created a major health emergency in the country as arsenic exposure causes multiple health problems, ranging from skin lessons to various types of cancer. However, until the mid 1990s, the contamination remained largely unknown and became public knowledge only later through a nationwide information campaign. We study the impact of the campaign on marriage patterns in rural Bangladesh. Using a difference-in-difference model, we analyse the age at marriage, bride price agreed at the time of marriage and find that both of them decreased in arsenic affected areas compared to areas unaffected by arsenic contamination. The effect on age at marriage is primarily driven by younger cohorts who got married earlier. Additionally, we find an increase in the likelihood of females having their first child at an early age (between 16 to 20 years). These are important social consequences, however, often ignored in most analyses.

Suggested Citation

  • Chowdhury, Shyamal & Singh, Prachi, 2023. "Information Campaign on Arsenic Poisoning: Unintended Consequences in Marriage Market," IZA Discussion Papers 16214, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16214
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16214.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bennear, Lori & Tarozzi, Alessandro & Pfaff, Alexander & Balasubramanya, Soumya & Matin Ahmed, Kazi & van Geen, Alexander, 2013. "Impact of a randomized controlled trial in arsenic risk communication on household water-source choices in Bangladesh," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 225-240.
    2. Naomi Gershoni & Corinne Low, 2021. "Older Yet Fairer: How Extended Reproductive Time Horizons Reshaped Marriage Patterns in Israel," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 198-234, January.
    3. Richard T. Carson & Phoebe Koundouri & Céline Nauges, 2010. "Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh: A Household Labor Market Approach," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(2), pages 407-414.
    4. Manisha Shah & Bryce Millett Steinberg, 2021. "Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(2), pages 380-405.
    5. Attila Ambrus & Erica Field & Maximo Torero, 2010. "Muslim Family Law, Prenuptial Agreements, and the Emergence of Dowry in Bangladesh," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1349-1397.
    6. David S Loughran & Julie Zissimopoulos, 2004. "Are There Gains to Delaying Marriage? The Effect of Age at First Marriage on Career Development and Wages," Working Papers WR-207, RAND Corporation.
    7. Johanna Brinkel & Mobarak H. Khan & Alexander Kraemer, 2009. "A Systematic Review of Arsenic Exposure and Its Social and Mental Health Effects with Special Reference to Bangladesh," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-11, May.
    8. Pascaline Dupas, 2011. "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 1-34, January.
    9. de Walque, Damien, 2007. "How does the impact of an HIV/AIDS information campaign vary with educational attainment? Evidence from rural Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 686-714, November.
    10. Manuela Angelucci & Daniel Bennett, 2021. "Adverse Selection in the Marriage Market: HIV Testing and Marriage in Rural Malawi [Marrying Up: The Role of Sex Ratio in Assortative Matching]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2119-2148.
    11. Peter Lorentzen & John McMillan & Romain Wacziarg, 2008. "Death and development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 81-124, June.
    12. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2015. "Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2757-2797, September.
    13. Lucia Breierova & Esther Duflo, 2003. "The Impact of Education on Fertility and Child Mortality: Do Fathers Really Matter Less Than Mothers?," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 217, OECD Publishing.
    14. Sarah Baird & Jacobus de Hoop & Berk Özler, 2013. "Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 370-403.
    15. Nina Buchmann & Erica M. Field & Rachel Glennerster & Shahana Nazneen & Xiao Yu Wang, 2021. "A Signal to End Child Marriage: Theory and Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh," NBER Working Papers 29052, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Mallick, Debdulal & Roy Chowdhury, Prabal, 2020. "Natural shocks and marriage markets: Fluctuations in mehr and dowry in Muslim marriages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    17. Mark M Pitt & Mark R Rosenzweig & M Nazmul Hassan, 2021. "Identifying the Costs of a Public Health Success: Arsenic Well Water Contamination and Productivity in Bangladesh [Individual Variations in Inorganic Arsenic Metabolism Associated with AS3MT Geneti," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2479-2526.
    18. Nina Buchmann & Erica M. Field & Rachel Glennerster & Reshmaan N. Hussam, 2019. "Throwing the Baby out with the Drinking Water: Unintended Consequences of Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh," NBER Working Papers 25729, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Erica Field & Attila Ambrus, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 881-930, October.
    20. Emily Oster & Ira Shoulson & E. Ray Dorsey, 2013. "Optimal Expectations and Limited Medical Testing: Evidence from Huntington Disease," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 804-830, April.
    21. Gary S. Becker & H. Gregg Lewis, 1974. "Interaction between Quantity and Quality of Children," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 81-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Pierre-André Chiappori & Sonia Oreffice & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2012. "Fatter Attraction: Anthropometric and Socioeconomic Matching on the Marriage Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(4), pages 659-695.
    23. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
    24. Ambrus, Attila & Field, Erica, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Scholarly Articles 3200264, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    25. Hamermesh, Daniel S & Biddle, Jeff E, 1994. "Beauty and the Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1174-1194, December.
    26. Briscoe, Ciara & Aboud, Frances, 2012. "Behaviour change communication targeting four health behaviours in developing countries: A review of change techniques," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 612-621.
    27. Bjerk, David, 2009. "Beauty vs. earnings: Gender differences in earnings and priorities over spousal characteristics in a matching model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 248-259, March.
    28. Hassan, M. Manzurul & Atkins, Peter J. & Dunn, Christine E., 2005. "Social implications of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(10), pages 2201-2211, November.
    29. Hilary Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach & Douglas Almond, 2016. "Long-Run Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(4), pages 903-934, April.
    30. Chari, A.V. & Heath, Rachel & Maertens, Annemie & Fatima, Freeha, 2017. "The causal effect of maternal age at marriage on child wellbeing: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 42-55.
    31. Siwan Anderson, 2007. "The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 151-174, Fall.
    32. Janet A. Weiss & Mary Tschirhart, 1994. "Public information campaigns as policy instruments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 82-119.
    33. Madajewicz, Malgosia & Pfaff, Alexander & van Geen, Alexander & Graziano, Joseph & Hussein, Iftikhar & Momotaj, Hasina & Sylvi, Roksana & Ahsan, Habibul, 2007. "Can information alone change behavior? Response to arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 731-754, November.
    34. Balasubramanya, Soumya & Pfaff, Alexander & Bennear, Lori & Tarozzi, Alessandro & Ahmed, Kazi Matin & Schoenfeld, Amy & van Geen, Alexander, 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, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 631-647, October.
    35. Pinar Keskin & Gauri Kartini Shastry & Helen Willis, 2017. "Water Quality Awareness and Breastfeeding: Evidence of Health Behavior Change in Bangladesh," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(2), pages 265-280, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Naveen Sunder, 2019. "Marriage Age, Social Status, and Intergenerational Effects in Uganda," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2123-2146, December.
    2. 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.
    3. Nina Buchmann & Erica M. Field & Rachel Glennerster & Shahana Nazneen & Xiao Yu Wang, 2021. "A Signal to End Child Marriage: Theory and Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh," NBER Working Papers 29052, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Rachel Cassidy & Anaya Dam & Wendy Janssens & Umair Kiani & Karlijn Morsink, 2022. "Father of the bride, or steel magnolias? Targeting men, women or both to reduce child marriage," IFS Working Papers W22/50, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. Rachel Cassidy & Anaya Dam & Wendy Janssens & Umair Kiani & Karlijn Morsink, 2024. "Targeting men, women or both to reduce child marriage," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-087/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 22 Oct 2024.
    6. Corno, Lucia & Voena, Alessandra, 2023. "Child marriage as informal insurance: Empirical evidence and policy simulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    7. Miron Tequame & Nyasha Tirivayi, 2015. "Higher education and fertility: Evidence from a natural experiment in Ethiopia," CINCH Working Paper Series 1509, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2015.
    8. Sylvain Dessy & Setou Diarra & Roland Pongou, 2017. "Underage Brides and Grooms’ Education," Working Papers 1704E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    9. Dessy, Sylvain & Diarra, Setou & Pongou, Roland, 2017. "Underage Brides and Grooms' Education," MPRA Paper 77326, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Isabelle Chort & Rozenn Hotte & Karine Marazyan, 2021. "Income shocks, bride price and child marriage in Turkey," Working papers of Transitions Energétiques et Environnementales (TREE) hal-03258215, HAL.
    11. Maertens, Annemie & Chari, A.V., 2020. "What’s Your Child Worth? An Analysis of Expected Dowry Payments in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Keats, Anthony, 2018. "Women's schooling, fertility, and child health outcomes: Evidence from Uganda's free primary education program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 142-159.
    13. Herrera Catalina & E. Sahn David, 2017. "Working Paper 281 - Early Childbearing, School Attainment and Cognitive Skills," Working Paper Series 2398, African Development Bank.
    14. Pascaline Dupas & Edward Miguel, 2016. "Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries," NBER Working Papers 22235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. 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.
    16. McGavock, Tamara, 2021. "Here waits the bride? The effect of Ethiopia's child marriage law," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    17. Catalina Herrera Almanza & David E. Sahn, 2018. "Early Childbearing, School Attainment, and Cognitive Skills: Evidence From Madagascar," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 643-668, April.
    18. Amr Ragab & Ayhab F. Saad, 2023. "The effects of a negative economic shock on male marriage in the West Bank," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 789-814, September.
    19. repec:ags:aaea22:335954 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos & Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi, 2012. "Household Responses to Information on Child Nutrition: Experimental Evidence from Malawi," CEPR Discussion Papers 8915, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Francesca Marchetta & David E. Sahn, 2016. "The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 369-403.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    arsenic contamination; health shock; information campaign; age at first marriage; bride price; age at first birth; Bangladesh;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp16214. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.