IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2016045.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The impact of rainwater harvesting on household labor supply

Author

Listed:
  • Tsukada, Rachel

    (UNU-MERIT)

  • Lehmann, Christian

    (Universidade de Brasilia)

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of rainwater harvesting (RWH) on aggregate household labor supply in areas prone to droughts. Using a Brazilian survey on rainwater harvesting, we find that having a RWH infrastructure at the homestead increases household wellbeing through three channels: (i) a direct time allocation effect - since households spend less time fetching water from distant sources, the time saved is allocated to other productive activities; (ii) a direct input effect - since water is an essential input for agricultural households and more labor hours are available, the cistern technology may contribute to increase the household's agricultural production. Both direct effects associate the labor-saving technology with an increase in productive labor supply. Finally, there is (iii) an indirect consumption effect - as a consequence of larger production, households can exchange larger quantities of own production against market goods, further increasing the household wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsukada, Rachel & Lehmann, Christian, 2016. "The impact of rainwater harvesting on household labor supply," MERIT Working Papers 2016-045, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2016045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2016/wp2016-045.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    2. Gamper-Rabindran, Shanti & Khan, Shakeeb & Timmins, Christopher, 2010. "The impact of piped water provision on infant mortality in Brazil: A quantile panel data approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 188-200, July.
    3. Jalan, Jyotsna & Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Does piped water reduce diarrhea for children in rural India?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 153-173, January.
    4. Deaton, Angus, 1991. "Saving and Liquidity Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1221-1248, September.
    5. Dercon, Stefan, 2004. "Growth and shocks: evidence from rural Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 309-329, August.
    6. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    7. Guy Hutton, Laurence Haller and Jamie Bartram, 2006. "Economic and Health Effects of Increasing Coverage of Low Cost Water and Sanitation Interventions," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-2006-33, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    8. repec:bla:obuest:v:63:y:2001:i:4:p:409-36 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2001. "Child Growth in the Time of Drought," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(4), pages 409-436, September.
    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. Yamauchi, Futoshi & Higuchi, Katsuhiko & Suhaeti, Rita Nur, 2009. "Impacts of prenatal and environmental factors on child growth: Evidence from Indonesia," IFPRI discussion papers 933, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Kadiyala, Suneetha & Quisumbing, Agnes & Rogers, Beatrice & Webb, Patrick, 2009. "The Impact of Prime Age Adult Mortality on Child Survival and Growth in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1116-1128, June.
    3. Giulia Barletta & Finório Castigo & Eva‐Maria Egger & Michael Keller & Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2022. "The impact of COVID‐19 on consumption poverty in Mozambique," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 771-802, May.
    4. Letta, Marco & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Tol, Richard S.J., 2018. "Temperature shocks, short-term growth and poverty thresholds: Evidence from rural Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 13-32.
    5. Barde, Julia Alexa & Walkiewicz, Juliana, 2013. "The Impact of Access to Piped Drinking Water on Human Capital Formation - Evidence from Brasilian Primary Schools," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79808, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Jones, Kelly & Gong, Erick, 2021. "Precautionary savings and shock-coping behaviors: Effects of promoting mobile bank savings on transactional sex in Kenya," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Lazzaroni, Sara & Wagner, Natascha, 2016. "Misfortunes never come singly: Structural change, multiple shocks and child malnutrition in rural Senegal," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 246-262.
    8. Naschold, Felix & Walker, Thomas F. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Osei, Robert, 2011. "Idiosyncratic shocks, risk management and welfare dynamics in rural Ghana," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 109646, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Palacios, Paola & Rojas-Velásquez, Libardo, 2023. "Impact of weather shocks on educational outcomes in the municipalities of Colombia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Nguyen Viet, Cuong, 2011. "Does Piped Water Improve Household Welfare? Evidence from Vietnam," MPRA Paper 40776, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Carter, Michael R. & Lybbert, Travis J., 2012. "Consumption versus asset smoothing: testing the implications of poverty trap theory in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 255-264.
    12. Ardyn Nordstrom & Christopher Cotton, 2020. "Impact of a Severe Drought on Education: More Schooling but Less Learning," Working Paper 1430, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    13. Cuong Nguyen Viet & Thieu Vu, 2013. "The impact of piped water on household welfare: evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(9), pages 1332-1358, November.
    14. Malacarne, J.G. & Paul, L.A., 2022. "Do the benefits of improved management practices to nutritional outcomes “dry up” in the presence of drought? Evidence from East Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Naschold, Felix, 2016. "Getting ahead or falling behind? – The importance of households’ ability to manage idiosyncratic risk in rural Ghana," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235720, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Youhong Lin & Feng Liu & Peng Xu, 2021. "Effects of drought on infant mortality in China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 248-269, February.
    17. Zhang, Jing & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2016. "The long-run effects of treated water on education: The rural drinking water program in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-15.
    18. Julia A. Barde & Juliana Walkiewicz, 2014. "Access to Piped Water and Human Capital Formation - Evidence from Brazilian Primary Schools," Discussion Paper Series 28, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Jul 2014.
    19. Mahmud, Mahreen & Riley, Emma, 2021. "Household response to an extreme shock: Evidence on the immediate impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on economic outcomes and well-being in rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty; access to water; risk coping; labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water

    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:unm:unumer:2016045. 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: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.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.