In this ISG, Guenther Schulze will present research estimating the causal effect of access to clean water on educational outcomes in Indonesia using longitudinal IFLS data and household fixed effects.
Event details
Time: 8:30-10:00am WIB // 12:30-2:00pm AEDT
Join in-person: McDonald Room, Menzies Library, ANU
Join online: bit.ly/ISG_indonesiaproject
About Event
Access to clean water is undeniably crucial for individual health and well-being. It prevents water-related diseases contracted from drinking contaminated water that are not only harmful, but also costly for poor households. Children are particularly vulnerable, and these water-related diseases can lead to school absences, lower educational attainment, and long-term setbacks in their development.
Using longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) from 1993-2014, we compare siblings within the same household who gained access to clean water at different stages of childhood on their educational performance. This allows us to estimate causal effects of clean water access on school performance.
We find that lifetime and early childhood access increases the likelihood of completing junior and senior secondary school; later-gained access has no discernible effect on school performance. The effect is mainly driven by increased risk of infection with diarrhoea. Our results underscore the need to provide access to clean water very early on.
Closed captioning will be available for all online Zoom presentations. If you are attending in person and require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), please contact the ANU Indonesia Project at Indonesia.Project@anu.edu.au
Image cr: Ika Fransisca / USAID
Event Speakers
Guenther Schulze
Günther Schulze is a Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Research at the University of Freiburg. He is also an Adjunct Professor and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the Australian National University. His research interests include political economy, development economics, and the economic analysis of conflict and terrorism.