Professor Gertler is leading a study to assess the demand for household connection to sewage services and the consequences of connection on housing markets in informal slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The Kenyan Government, through a loan from the World Bank, is installing a municipal sewage system in slums in Nairobi and other big cities in Kenya. However, the costs of household connection to the system are substantial. Gertler's team is implementing an RCT to estimate price elasticity of the demand for connections, the extent to which price elasticities depend on tenant knowledge of landlord investment costs, and the effects of sewer connection on rents and tenant tenure. They also consider complications related to collective action in multi-household compound connections and resident versus non-resident landlords. Results from this study are critical to developing pricing/subsidy and information campaign policies to cost-effectively improve connectivity.
Implementing partners include the Athi Water Services Board, Nairobi Water, the World Bank and the Water and the Sanitation Program. The research team includes Paul Gertler (UC Berkeley), Sebastian Galiani (University of Maryland), Alexandra Orsola-Vidal (CEGA, UC Berkeley), Aidan Coville (DIME) and IPA.
Implementing partners include the Athi Water Services Board, Nairobi Water, the World Bank and the Water and the Sanitation Program. The research team includes Paul Gertler (UC Berkeley), Sebastian Galiani (University of Maryland), Alexandra Orsola-Vidal (CEGA, UC Berkeley), Aidan Coville (DIME) and IPA.