The Unintended Consequences of Infrastructure Development

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bancalari, Antonella
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01425
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: mortality; water; electrification; incentives; provision; decline; finance; IMPACT

摘要

I investigate the social costs imposed by poor implementation of public infrastructure. Focusing on the period from 2005 to 2015 in Peru, when the government embarked on a nationwide initiative to expand sewerage systems, I leverage quasirandom variation in initiation of the implementation phase. By combining several sources of administrative data, I find that infrastructure development increased infant and under-5 mortality. These effects are driven by health and safety hazards associated with construction work, leading to increased deaths from accidents and waterborne diseases. The severity of these effects is more pronounced in areas where construction activity was more intense.