Ban, RaduDas Gupta, MonicaRao, Vijayendra2012-03-302012-03-302010Journal of Development Studies00220388https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4951Despite efforts to mandate and finance local governments' provision of environmental sanitation services, outcomes remain poor in the villages surveyed in the four South Indian states. The analysis indicates some key issues that appear to hinder improvements in sanitation. Local politicians tend to capture sanitary infrastructure and cleaning services for themselves, while also keeping major village roads reasonably well-served. Their decisions suggest, however, that they neither understand the health benefits of sanitation, nor the negative externalities to their own health if surrounding areas are poorly served. Our findings suggest that improving sanitary outcomes requires disseminating information on the public goods nature of their health benefits, as well as on the local government's responsibilities. It also requires putting public health regulations in place, along with measures to enable accountability in service provision.ENModels of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior D720State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare H750State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories H760Formal and Informal SectorsShadow EconomyInstitutional Arrangements O170Economic Development: Regional, Urban, and Rural AnalysesTransportation O180Air PollutionWater PollutionNoiseHazardous WasteSolid WasteRecycling Q530Journal ArticleWorld Bank