Effects of governance on access to improved water sources (urban and rural) – a cross-country analysis

Abstract

Universal access to water is recognized as a basic human right by the United Nations and most of the countries around the world. For this reason, governments have been trying to assure their population has access to improved water sources, focusing in accomplishing the universality of the service. Results are visible, but there is still a lot more to do, since an 11% of the world’s total population still don’t have access. Besides other aspects commonly acknowledged as determinants in achieving access to improved water sources, nowadays good governance and low corruption levels are recognized as important factors. In a cross-country setting, including 147 countries in the sample, this paper tests empirically through a Tobit model the relationship between access to improved water sources, governance and corruption. Using control of corruption, voice and accountability, and government effectiveness specifically as governance indicators, and including several control variables such as fresh water sources, income and infrastructure, this paper proves governance matters. In the analysis, the distinction between urban, rural and total population is done, in order to differentiate the results amongst them, finding that the rural population is the most vulnerable to weak governance.