We analyze the impact of access to piped water on human capital formation as measured by test scores from standardized school exams at Brasilian primary schools. We find a positive and significant effect of around 11 percent of the standard deviation of mean test scores. The effect of piped...

This study presents empirical evidence that a health improvement program---privatization of municipal water services---in Argentina during the 1990s has had a negative effect on long-term human capital accumulation. Exploiting variations across regions and cohorts, I find that early childhood...