An empirical exploration of relationships between official development assistance (ODA) and advances in water and sanitation subsectors

Figures & data

Table 1. Statistics illustrating the benefits from investing in water and sanitation

• The Cholera epidemic that had spread across Peru in 1991 cost one billion US$ to be treated, while prevention of the epidemic could have cost one tenth of this cost according to estimations (Suarez & Bradford, 1993) • Improved W&S can decrease diarrhoea by 25% (Moll, McElroy, Sabogal, Corrales, and Gelting, 2007) • In sub-Saharan Africa, women spend more than 6 h wasting productive time to collect water, according to WHO estimates, saving that time would contribute highly to reach the MDGs by saving of 64 billion US$, Whittington, Mu, and Roche (1990) estimated the cost of time spent in collecting water in Kenya to be similar to the average wage rate for unskilled labour • Unsafe contaminated drinking water with industrial and municipal waste water affects the mental and the physical health of children in China ((China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in (Warford & Yining, 2002, chapter 3; Hansen & Bhatia, 2004) • Hutton, Haller, and Bartram (2007) in a cost benefit analysis of improved W&S concluded that benefits exceed costs in all world sub-regions and the return on a US$1 investment was between US$5—US$46 in developing regions. Also, they estimated that a US $1 invested in safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) gives a payback US$8 economic benefit • Nandi et al. (2017) estimate the health and the economic benefits of scaling up piped water and improved sanitation amongst Indian households, they find that access improvement could avert 43,352 diarrhoeal episodes and 68 diarrhoeal deaths per 100,000 under-5 children, accompanied with saving of (in 2013 US$) $357,788 (95% $345,509 -$370,067) in out-of-pocket diarrhoea treatment expenditure

Figure 1. Five years moving average and yearly global aid commitment for water and sanitation.

Figure 2. Volume of donors’ disbursements for health, education and water & sanitation.

Source of Data: OECD-DAC official website.

Table 2. The summary of data

Variable	Definition and source
Percentage of population with safe access to improved water	Improved water source (% of population with access), the proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source. Total, urban and rural (in percentage). Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation (http://www.wssinfo.org/)
Percentage of population with proper access to improved sanitation	Improved sanitation facilities (% of population with access), the proportion of the population using improved sanitation facilities. Total, urban and rural (in percentage). Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation (http://www.wssinfo.org/)
ODA W&S	Official development Assistance for water and sanitation (CRS- DAC database) (US Dollar, Millions, 2015)
GDP per capita	Constant 2010 US$. Source: World Development Indicators
Gross national expenditure (% of GDP)	Gross national expenditure (formerly domestic absorption) is the sum of household final consumption expenditure (formerly private consumption), general government final consumption expenditure (formerly general government consumption), and gross capital formation (formerly gross domestic investment). Source: World Bank Development Indicators
Net ODA received (% of GNI)	Net official development assistance (ODA) consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 per cent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 per cent). Source: World Bank Development Indicators
Population density	People per sq. km of land area. Source: World Development Indicators
Government effectiveness	Reflects perceptions of the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government’s commitment to such policies. Estimate of governance (ranges from approximately −2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong) governance performance). Data from database: Worldwide Governance Indicators
Rule of law	Reflects perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. Estimate of governance (ranges from approximately −2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong) governance performance). Data from database: Worldwide Governance Indicators
Political stability and absence of violence index	Reflects perceptions of the likelihood that the government will be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including politically-motivated violence and terrorism. Estimate of governance (ranges from approximately −2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong) governance performance). Data from database: Worldwide Governance Indicators

Table 3. Summary statistics

Variable	Obs	Mean	Std. Dev.	Min	Max
Improved water source, total	2,863	79.4735	17.9693	19.5	100
Improved water source, urban	2,883	90.7708	10.5955	24.1	100
Improved water source, rural	2,863	71.3072	21.4456	8.8	100
Improved sanitation, total	2,860	59.9054	29.6874	3	100
Improved sanitation, urban	2,865	70.0691	24.8749	11.3	100
Improved sanitation, rural	2,860	51.7316	31.6497	0	100
ODA W&S	1,844	31.4113	57.8722	0.000287	1065.899
Net ODA received (% of GNI)	2,753	7.374575	10.961	−2.6295	181.1032
GDP per capita	2,948	3710.6	3781.185	115.7941	20,333.94
Population density	3,053	117.3691	169.7294	1.479208	1391.64
Government effectiveness	2,474	−0.4984	0.6639	−2.445876	1.572235
Rule of law	2,501	−0.50678	0.6951	−2.606445	1.555118
Political stability & absence of violence	1,345	−0.39852	0.93224	−3.28	2.099854
Gross national expenditure (% of GDP)	2,646	110.23	21.57477	50.23931	444.7508

Table 4. Regression of safe access to water for all recipient countries

	LΔSwater/Total	LSwater/Total	LΔSwater/Urban	LSwater/Urban	LΔSwater/Rural	LSwater/Rural	LSwater/Fixed effect
	Column(1)	Column(2)	Column(3)	Column(4)	Column(5)	Column(6)	Column(7)
Constant	0.00122***	3.434***	0.0003	4.381***	0.0029***	3.161***	3.340***
	(4.22)	(130.78)	(1.86)	(305.99)	(6.49)	(69.93)	(50.35)
ODA W&S/GDP	0.0069***		0.0012***		0.0069***		0.0205**
	(22.5)		(14.55)		(17.68)		(3.29)
Aid volatility	−0.024***		−0.0071***		−0.0141		−0.0548
	(6.70)		(3.32)		(1.50)		(1.87)
Time dummies	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Net ODA as% GNI		−1.432***		−0.858***		−2.435***	0.0908
		(4.15)		(3.73)		(4.25)	(0.62)
lGDP per capita		0.120***		0.0257***		0.128***	0.110***
		(45.32)		(17.6)		(28.91)	(12.35)
Population density		0.0194***		0.00494***		0.0551***	0.108***
		(11.29)		(7.15)		(18.85)	(6.63)
Dummy for Tropical countries		−0.0726***		−0.0471***		−0.113***	0
		(18.69)		(26.29)		(16.93)	(.)
Government effectiveness		0.0192**		0.00607*		0.0199	−0.0246***
		(3.07)		(2.27)		(1.89)	(3.95)
Rule of law		0.0614***		0.0445***		0.1000***	−0.0210**
		(10.81)		(16.95)		(9.93)	(2.79)
Political stability & absence of violence		−0.277***		−0.163***		−0.158***	0.0146
		(13.63)		(14.36)		(4.16)	(0.38)
Gross national expenditure as % of GDP		0.0624***		−0.0136*		0.149***	0.0260**
		(6.32)		(2.36)		(7.17)	(3.22)
N	1762	1152	1777	1154	1762	1152	805
R^2							0.35
adj. R^2							0.223
Wald χ^2	879.78***	5786.96***	387.05***	3311.93***	604.01***	4454.37***

Notes: t-statistics are in parentheses; Column (1) through (6) are the FGLS regression results, Fixed effects for the effect of all the variables of interest on the safe access to water for the recipient countries are included in column (7); All the dependent variables are logged.

*** Significant at 1% level.

** Significant at 5% level.

* Significant at 10% level.

Table 5. Regression of safe access to proper sanitation for all recipient countries

	LΔS sanitation/Total	LS sanitation/Total	LΔS sanitation/Urban	LS sanitation/Urban	LΔs sanitation/Rural	LS sanitation/Rural	LS sanitatio/Fixed effect
	Column(1)	Column(2)	Column(3)	Column(4)	Column(5)	Column(6)	Column(7)
Constant	0.0020***	0.0796	0.00064*	2.114***	0.0014	−0.955***	2.368***
	(3.95)	(1.23)	(2.23)	(40.78)	(1.8)	(12.26)	(24.16)
ODA W&S/GDP	0.0110***		0.0039***		0.0109***		0.0398***
	(23.73)		(16.67)		(17)		(4.32)
Aid volatility	−0.0314***		−0.0121***		−0.0149		−0.0996*
	(6.93)		(4.57)		(1.56)		(2.30)
Time dummies	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Net ODA as% GNI		−6.164***		−4.390***		−6.699***	−0.0855
		(9.05)		(6.89)		(5.94)	(0.39)
lGDP per capita		0.459***		0.253***		0.559***	0.163***
		(78.93)		(52.54)		(76.9)	(12.46)
Population density		0.0759***		0.0224***		0.131***	0.178***
		(20.19)		(7.79)		(27)	(7.39)
Dummy for Tropical countries		−0.367***		−0.234***		−0.525***	0
		(42.06)		(34.95)		(45.31)	(.)
Government effectiveness		−0.0256		0.0009		−0.0015	−0.049***
		(1.84)		(0.1)		(0.09)	(5.33)
Rule of law		−0.0234		−0.0191*		−0.0441*	−0.0171
		(1.69)		(2.03)		(2.38)	(1.54)
Political stability & absence of violence		−0.278***		−0.061		−0.614***	0.0715
		(4.23)		(1.35)		(7.42)	(1.26)
Gross national expenditure as % of GDP		0.0436***		0.0245***		0.0457***	0.0413***
		(15.74)		(12.4)		(14.84)	(3.46)
N	1766	1152	1766	1154	1766	1152	808
R^2							0.381
adj. R^2							0.26
Wald χ^2	840.38***	12,536.51***	438.15***	6046.94***	578.7***	25,340.32***

Notes: t-statistics are in parentheses; Column (1) through (6) are the FGLS regression results, Fixed effects for the effect of all the variables of interest on the access to proper sanitation for the recipient countries are included in column (7); All the dependent variables are logged.

*** Significant at 1% level.

** Significant at 5% level.

* Significant at 10% level.

Table 6. Regression of safe access to water for low-income countries

	LΔSwater/Total	LSwater/Total	LΔSwater/Urban	LSwater/Urban	LΔSwater/Rural	LSwater/Rural	LSwater/Fixed effect
	Column(1)	Column(2)	Column(3)	Column(4)	Column(5)	Column(6)	Column(7)
Constant	0.0037*	3.268***	0.002***	4.693***	0.0045*	2.730***	2.539***
	(2.16)	(19.44)	(4.76)	(87.46)	(2.11)	(11.77)	(7.71)
ODA W&S/GDP	0.0592***		0.0031**		0.071***		0.183
	(8.14)		(2.85)		(7.96)		(1.00)
Aid volatility	−0.140***		−0.0106		−0.154**		−0.791
	(3.61)		(1.53)		(3.23)		(1.08)
Time dummies	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Net ODA as% GNI		−1.259		−1.476***		−1.968	0.253
		(1.44)		(3.86)		(1.63)	(1.08)
lGDP per capita		0.134***		−0.021**		0.173***	0.220***
		(6.08)		(2.71)		(5.7)	(4.19)
Population density		0.0453***		0.0121***		0.0704***	0.0847
		(7.9)		(4.96)		(8.9)	(1.77)
Dummy for Tropical countries		−0.127***		−0.0657***		−0.128***	0
		(4.98)		(11.60)		(3.65)	(.)
Government effectiveness		−0.103**		−0.0257*		−0.0565	−0.0333*
		(3.02)		(2.49)		(1.20)	(2.56)
Rule of law		0.140***		0.0769***		0.127**	−0.0373
		(3.96)		(7.36)		(2.6)	(1.77)
Political stability & absence of violence		−0.183		−0.181***		−0.245	0.0991
		(1.15)		(4.48)		(1.11)	(0.93)
Gross national expenditure as % of GDP		0.0765		−0.0342		0.187**	0.0265
		(1.48)		(1.82)		(2.62)	(1.18)
N	702	462	705	462	702	462	330
R^2							0.435
adj. R^2							0.42
Wald χ^2	93.05***	199.15***	64.58***	892.48***	93.8***	192.56***

Notes: t-statistics are in parentheses; Column (1) through (6) are the FGLS regression results, Fixed effects for the effect of all the variables of interest on the safe access to water for the recipient countries are included in column (7); All the dependent variables are logged.

*** Significant at 1% level.

** Significant at 5% level.

* Significant at 10% level.

Table 7. Regression of safe access to sanitation for low-income countries

	LΔS sanitation/Total	LS sanitation/Total	LΔS sanitation/Urban	LS sanitation/Urban	LΔS sanitation/Rural	LS sanitation/Rural	LS sanitatio/Fixed effect
	Column(1)	Column(2)	Column(3)	Column(4)	Column(5)	Column(6)	Column(7)
Constant	0.00660***	0.641***	0.00246**	1.907***	0.0027	0.261	1.052***
	(6.2)	(3.74)	(3.11)	(12.54)	(1.49)	(0.74)	(5.02)
ODA W&S/GDP	0.736***		0.178***		0.793***		2.769
	(11.54)		(5.23)		(7.73)		(1.74)
Aid volatility	−0.0416*		0.0334**		−0.0155		0.223
	(2.23)		(3.19)		(0.56)		(0.22)
Time dummies	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Net ODA as% GNI		−0.318**		−0.269**		−0.336	0.0071
		(2.95)		(3.01)		(1.53)	(0.22)
lGDP per capita		0.404***		0.288***		0.414***	0.295***
		(21.58)		(14.59)		(10.81)	(8.89)
Population density		0.0555***		0.00787		0.131***	0.157***
		(7.48)		(1.04)		(8.74)	(4.07)
Dummy for Tropical countries		−0.556***		−0.472***		−0.766***	0
		(16.93)		(16.62)		(14.61)	(.)
Government effectiveness		−0.00854		0.0784**		−0.105	−0.071***
		(0.34)		(2.63)		(1.80)	(3.97)
Rule of law		−0.0725*		−0.128***		−0.0262	−0.0091
		(2.39)		(4.17)		(0.42)	(0.42)
Political stability & absence of violence		−0.108		0.0243		−1.076***	0.0583
		(0.82)		(0.16)		(3.88)	(0.53)
Gross national expenditure as % of GDP		0.0250***		0.0278***		0.00785	0.0454*
		(3.38)		(4.6)		(0.54)	(2.27)
N	705	462	705	462	705	462	330
R^2							0.44
adj. R^2							0.325
Wald χ^2	372.2***	2537.22***	136.21***	1253.03***	214.25***	685***

Notes: t-statistics are in parentheses; Column (1) through (6) are the FGLS regression results, Fixed effects for the effect of all the variables of interest on the proper access to sanitation for the recipient countries are included in column (7); All the dependent variables are logged.

*** Significant at 1% level.

** Significant at 5% level.

* Significant at 10% level.

Table

List of 139 countries in the study			The low income countries
Afghanistan	Georgia	Pakistan	Afghanistan
Albania	Ghana	Palau	Bangladesh
Algeria	Grenada	Panama	Benin
Angola	Guatemala	Papua New Guinea	Bhutan
Argentina	Guinea-Bissau	Paraguay	Burkina Faso
Armenia	Guinea	Peru	Burundi
Azerbaijan	Guyana	Philippines	Cambodia
Bangladesh	Haiti	Rwanda	Central African R
Barbados	Honduras	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Chad
Belarus	India	Saint Lucia	Comoros
Belize	Indonesia	St Vincent & the Grenadines	Congo, Dem. Rep.
Benin	Iran	Samoa	Cote d’Ivoire
Bhutan	Iraq	Senegal	Eritrea
Bolivia	Jamaica	Serbia	Ethiopia
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Jordan	Seychelles	Gambia, The
Botswana	Kazakhstan	Sierra Leone	Ghana
Brazil	Kenya	Solomon Islands	Guinea
Burkina Faso	Kiribati	Somalia	Guinea-Bissau
Burundi	Kyrgyzstan	South Africa	Haiti
Cambodia	Lao Republic	Sri Lanka	India
Cameroon	Lebanon	Sudan	Kenya
Cape Verde	Lesotho	Suriname	Korea, Dem. Rep.
Central African Republic	Liberia	Swaziland	Kyrgyz Republic
Chad	Libya	Syria	Lao PDR
Chile	Macedonia	Tajikistan	Liberia
China	Madagascar	Tanzania	Madagascar
Colombia	Malawi	Thailand	Malawi
Comoros	Malaysia	Timor-Leste	Mali
Congo	Maldives	Togo	Mauritania
Costa Rica	Mali	Tonga	Mongolia
Croatia	Marshall Islands	Trinidad and Tobago	Mozambique
Cuba	Mauritania	Tunisia	Myanmar
Côte d’Ivoire	Mauritius	Turkey	Nepal
Democratic R. of Korea	Mexico	Turkmenistan	Niger
Democratic R. of the Congo	Micronesia	Uganda	Nigeria
Djibouti	Moldova	Ukraine	Pakistan
Dominica	Mongolia	Uruguay	Papua New Guinea
Dominican Republic	Montenegro	Uzbekistan	Rwanda
Ecuador	Morocco	Vanuatu	Senegal
Egypt	Mozambique	Venezuela	Sierra Leone
El Salvador	Myanmar	Vietnam	Solomon Islands
Equatorial Guinea	Namibia	West bank and Gaza	Somalia
Eritrea	Nepal	Yemen	Sudan
Ethiopia	Nicaragua	Zambia	Tajikistan
Fiji	Niger	Zimbabwe	Tanzania
Gabon	Nigeria		Timor-Leste
Gambia	Oman		Togo
			Uganda
			Uzbekistan
			Vietnam
			Yemen, Rep.
			Zambia
			Zimbabwe

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