Abstract:

The rural “toilet revolution” project is an important initiative to implement the Healthy China Initiative and an important element of the rural revitalization strategy. Exploiting the launch of the “toilet revolution” project at the administrative village, and using the data from the 2017 China Rural Governance Survey and the China Household Finance Survey, this paper examines the impact of sanitation infrastructure on individual health. We find that the implementation of sanitation in administrative villages significantly improved individual self-reported health. Addressing the selection problem in “toilet revolution” placement does not change our results. The mechanism analysis shows that reducing the infectious disease problems caused by natural environmental factors might be the possible channel through which sanitation infrastructure affects individual health. Moreover, the health effects of the “toilet revolution” project only exist if the village is hard to access health care, in national poverty county, and in older age groups. This paper provides strong empirical evidence to support the toilet revolution for a healthy China.

Key words:

Sanitation Infrastructure, Health Human Capital, Toilet Revolution, Disease Transmission