{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-query-tsx","path":"/research/caste-purity-and-pollution-and-the-puzzle-of-open-defecation-in-india-evidence-from-a-novel-measure-in-a-nationally-representative-survey/","result":{"pageContext":{"post":{"slug":"/research/caste-purity-and-pollution-and-the-puzzle-of-open-defecation-in-india-evidence-from-a-novel-measure-in-a-nationally-representative-survey/","title":"The puzzle of open defecation in rural India: Evidence from a novel measure of caste attitudes in a nationally-representative survey","date":"Nov 15, 2016","timeToRead":1,"description":"Uniquely widespread and persistent open defecation in rural India has emerged as an important policy challenge and puzzle about behavioral choice in economic development.","body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"The puzzle of open defecation in rural India: Evidence from a novel measure of caste attitudes in a nationally-representative survey\",\n  \"date\": \"2016-11-15\",\n  \"template\": \"post\",\n  \"slug\": \"caste-purity-and-pollution-and-the-puzzle-of-open-defecation-in-india-evidence-from-a-novel-measure-in-a-nationally-representative-survey\",\n  \"postedLink\": \"https://riceinstitute.org/research/caste-purity-and-pollution-and-the-puzzle-of-open-defecation-in-india-evidence-from-a-novel-measure-in-a-nationally-representative-survey/\",\n  \"description\": \"Uniquely widespread and persistent open defecation in rural India has emerged as an important policy challenge and puzzle about behavioral choice in economic development.\",\n  \"tags\": \"Research, Sanitation, Social Hierarchy\",\n  \"banner\": \"\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Authors: Dean Spears, Amit Thorat\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Published in: \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"Economic Development and Cultural Change\")), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"https://github.com/riceinstitute/content/blob/release/research/spears-et-al-2016-the-puzzle-of-open-defecation-in-rural-india-evidence-from-a-novel-measure-of-caste-attitudes-in-a-nationally-representative-survey.pdf\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Download Paper\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Abstract:\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Uniquely widespread and persistent open defecation in rural India has emerged as an important policy challenge and puzzle about behavioral choice in economic development. One candidate explanation is the culture of purity and pollution that reinforces and has its origins in the caste system. Although such a cultural account is inherently difficult to quantitatively test, we provide support for this explanation by comparing open defecation rates across places in India where untouchability is more and less intensely practiced. \"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"In particular, we exploit a novel question in the 2012 India Human Development Survey that asked households whether they practice untouchability, meaning whether they enforce norms of purity and pollution in their interactions with lower castes. \"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"We find an association between local practice of untouchability and open defecation that is robust; is not explained by economic, educational, or other observable differences; and is specific to open defecation, rather than other health behavior or human capital investments more generally. We verify that practicing untouchability is not associated with general disadvantage in health knowledge or access to medical professionals. \"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"We interpret this as evidence that the culture of purity, pollution, untouchability, and caste contributes to the exceptional prevalence of open defecation in rural India.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tags":[{"name":"Research","slug":"research"},{"name":" Sanitation","slug":"sanitation"},{"name":" Social Hierarchy","slug":"social-hierarchy"}],"banner":null}}},"staticQueryHashes":["318001574","3787687951","3787687951"]}