Water Works: The Economic Impact of Water Infrastructure

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 to 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.