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American Economic Journal: Economic Policy: Vol. 4 No. 4 (November 2012)

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Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco

Article Citation

Devoto, Florencia, Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, William Parienté, and Vincent Pons. 2012. "Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4(4): 68-99.

DOI: 10.1257/pol.4.4.68

Abstract

Connecting private dwellings to the water main is expensive and typically cannot be publicly financed. We show that households' willingness to pay for a private connection is high when it can be purchased on credit, not because a connection improves health but because it increases the time available for leisure and reduces inter- and intra-household conflicts on water matters, leading to sustained improvements in well-being. Our results suggest that facilitating access to credit for households to finance lump sum quality-oflife investments can significantly increase welfare, even if those investments do not result in any health or income gains. (JEL D12, I31, O12, O13, O18, Q25)

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Authors

Devoto, Florencia (Paris School of Economics)
Duflo, Esther (MIT)
Dupas, Pascaline (Stanford U)
Parienté, William (IRES, Catholic U Louvain)
Pons, Vincent (MIT)

JEL Classifications

D12: Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
I31: General Welfare
O12: Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O13: Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
O18: Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
Q25: Renewable Resources and Conservation: Water

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