Demand for environmental quality information and household response: Evidence from well-water arsenic testing |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Economics, Michigan State University, United States;2. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, United States;3. World Bank, United States;4. Department of Energy and Environment, TERI University, India;1. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, 2200 Symons Hall, College Park, MD 20742 USA;2. NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, MB 19, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA;3. NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA;1. Dept. of Natural Resources, TERI University, New Delhi, India;2. Dept. of Regional Water Studies, TERI University, New Delhi, India;3. Centre for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture, New Delhi, India;4. Dept. of Civil Engineering, Nationa Institute of Technology, Manipur, India;1. Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India;2. Department of Soil and Water Conservation, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, 263145, Uttarakhand, India;3. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA;1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, China;2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Economics, United States;3. Kyung Hee University, South Korea;4. Population Research Instituition, Business School, Nanjing University, China;1. Georg-August-University of Goettingen, Germany;2. Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Access to information about environmental quality may facilitate low-cost preventive measures that protect human health. In this paper, we study the demand for information about environmental quality and the behavioral response to the information provided. With a field experiment conducted in Bihar (India), we estimate the price sensitivity of demand for diagnostic testing of drinking water wells for arsenic of natural origin – a serious threat to the health of tens of millions of villagers across South and Southeast Asia. Demand is substantial but sensitive to price; uptake falls from 68% to 31% of households over our price range (Rs. 10 to Rs. 50). We further assess how households respond to information regarding the contamination level in their wells. About one-third of households with unsafe wells switch to a safer water source. Finally, we demonstrate that households that received adverse test outcomes are more likely to selectively forget test results, and proactively remove evidence of their wells' arsenic status. |
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| Keywords: | Information Environmental quality Willingness to pay Arsenic Ground water |
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