|
|
|
|
|
|
| | Abstract | | We develop a model of household defensive behavior and illness and empirically estimate it using cross-sectional household-level data collected in Jakarta in 1991. We find that several engineering, economic/behavioral and neighborhood-level variables are associated with illness. Among the engineering variables, we find that quantity, in the sense of poor reliability of the water supply, appears to be associated with diarrheal illness. Interruptions in the supply are consistently found to interfere with defensive behavior (washing hands after using the toilet), and to result in higher incidence of diarrhea. Surprisingly, the water sources that supply wealthier households (government-piped water and private wells) have the highest interruption rates, making those households particularly vulnerable to diarrhea. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|