PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Robyn C. Meeks
TI  - Water Works: The Economic Impact of Water Infrastructure
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.52.4.0915-7408R1
DP  - 2017 Feb 06
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0915-7408R1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/02/01/jhr.52.4.0915-7408R1.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/02/01/jhr.52.4.0915-7408R1.full
AB  - Billions of hours are spent each year on water collection in developing countries. This paper explores whether improvements in water technologies, which decrease household distance to drinking water source and the time intensity of home production, enable changes in household time allocation and, thereby, productivity gains in Kyrgyzstan. Adults reallocate time towards leisure and labor on the household farm. Average yearly household cereals production increased significantly. Results imply a rate of return to labor equaling $0.11/hour, approximately half the hourly farm wage. Absent evidence of improved adult health, results suggest that productivity gains were realized primarily through increased farm labor.