Community matters: heterogeneous impacts of a sanitation intervention
In this seminar, Britta Augsburg (Institute of Fiscal Studies) discussed the results of a study on the effectiveness of a community-level information intervention aimed at reducing open defecation (OD) and increasing sanitation investments in Nigeria.
This seminar was a part of the 3ie-LIDC monthly series.
Time: 12:30 – 2pm
Venue: Room LG6, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HT
To understand the effectiveness of the intervention, researchers conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial in 246 communities between 2014 and 2018. While the average impact of the intervention was negligible, there were strong and lasting effects on open defecation habits (achieved through increased toilet ownership) in poor communities as compared to rich communities. Using data from five other RCTs on the same intervention, the team is able to generalize the finding that the intervention is more effective in poorer communities.
About the speaker
Britta Augsburg is Associate Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Her research focuses on understanding the effectiveness of programmes and policies that tackle constraints to productivity of poverty-affected individuals and households, particularly, on credit and technology adoption constraints. She has worked on a number of studies related to microfinance and particularly the effectiveness of this financial tool in achieving improved outcomes for the intended beneficiaries. Currently, she is working on understanding the demand and supply-side constraints to uptake of sanitation technology.