Clean Water and Infant Health: Evidence from Piped Water Provision in China

We examine the impact of clean drinking water on infant mortality in China using a novel instrumental variable: the least-cost distance of piped water infrastructure between water sources and infant mortality surveillance areas. We find that the provision of piped water significantly decreases infant mortality, with a 10 percentage point increase in piped water coverage reducing infant mortality by 15%. Compared with regions with highly polluted surface waters, access to piped water is particularly beneficial in regions with slightly polluted surface waters, in which the pollution is difficult to observe. A simple cost-benefit analysis indicates that the benefits of piped water provision in rural China significantly outweigh the estimated costs.