Title page

Contents

Abstract 3

1. Introduction 4

2. Background and Data 8

2.1. Background: Groundwater Contamination and Water Sanitation Programs in Assam 8

2.2. Newly Collected School Survey 10

3. Empirical Strategy 11

3.1. Two-way Fixed Effect Differences-in-Differences 11

3.2. TWFEDD Cohort Analysis 14

3.3. Staggered DD Treatment and Treatment Effect Heterogeneity 15

4. Results and Threats to Identification 17

4.1. Results 17

4.2. Threats to Internal Validity and Robustness Checks 18

5. Effects of Arsenic in Groundwater on School Absenteeism Using a National Survey 20

5.1. India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 20

5.2. Other Variables 20

5.3. Instrumental Variable Approach 21

5.4. Threats to Identification 22

5.5. IV Results from the IHDS 23

6. Discussion 26

References 27

Appendix 44

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of Self-collected School Survey in Assam: Main Variables 36

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of Self-collected School Survey: Control Variables 37

Table 3. Correlation between Household Characteristics and Timing of Access to Piped Water 38

Table 4. Correlation Between Timing of Access to Water Supply and Village Level Characteristics 39

Table 5. Years of Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water and Educational Outcomes: Heterogenous Effects by Gender 39

Table 6. Years of Exposure to Contaminated Water and Educational Outcomes among Non-Repeaters 40

Table 7. Years of Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water and Educational Outcomes: Distance to the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) 40

Table 8. IHDS Descriptive Statistics and District Level Control Variables 41

Table 9. First Stage Regression in IDHS 42

Table 10. OLS and IV Estimates of Arsenic on Monthly School Absenteeism 42

Table 11. IV Estimates of Arsenic on Health Outcomes 43

Table 12. Reduced Form Estimates between Clayey Soil and School Absenteeism Across Arsenic and Non-Arsenic Districts 43

Figure 1. Geographical location of Titabor Block in Jorhat District of Assam 32

Figure 2. School Sampling Cascade 33

Figure 3. Event Study Plots from the Dynamic DID Model 34

Figure 4. Event Study Plots from the Sun-Abraham Estimator 35

Table A.0.1. Description of Data and Variables (IHDS) 47

Table A.0.2. Self-Collected Survey Data Description (Titabor) 48

Table A.0.3. District level Variables (IHDS) 49

Table A.0.4. Descriptive statistics on Aggregate School Quality Measures 49

Table A.0.5. Village Characteristics for Titabor Block 50

Table A1. Clayey Soil and District Level Characteristics 51

Table A2. Correlation Between Year of Water Supply and Aggregate School Quality Measures 52

Table A3. Correlation Between Awareness and Aggregate School Quality Measures 52

Table A4. Years of Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water and Health Outcomes 53

Figure A.1. Geographical Distribution of Arsenic Levels Across States of India 44

Figure A.2. Location of Doyang River, Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and Pipe Water Supply Schemes (PWSS) to villages in Titabor 45

Figure A.3. Location of Dhansiri River, Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and Pipe Water Supply Schemes (PWSS) to villages in Titabor 46