Abstract

In India, infant mortality among Hindus is higher than among Muslims, and religious differences in sanitation practices have been cited as a contributing factor. To explore whether religion itself is associated with differences in sanitation practices, this study compares sanitation practices of Hindus and Muslims living in the same locations using three nationally representative data sets from India. Across all three data sets, the unconditional religion-specific gap in latrine ownership and latrine use declines by approximately two-thirds when conditioning on location characteristics or including location fixed effects. Further, the estimates do not show evidence of religion-specific differences in other sanitation practices, such as handwashing or observed fecal material near homes. Household sanitation practices vary substantially across areas of India, but religion itself has less direct influence when considering differences between Hindus and Muslims within the same location.

中文翻译：

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宗教与卫生习惯

摘要

在印度，印度教徒中的婴儿死亡率高于穆斯林，而在卫生习惯方面的宗教差异被认为是造成这种情况的原因。为了探讨宗教本身是否与卫生习惯的差异有关，本研究使用来自印度的三个具有全国代表性的数据集，比较了居住在同一地点的印度教徒和穆斯林的卫生习惯。在所有这三个数据集中，以位置特征为条件或包括位置固定效应时，无宗教信仰的特定厕所在厕所所有权和厕所使用上的差距减少了大约三分之二。此外，这些估计值并未显示出其他卫生设施（例如洗手或在家附近观察到的粪便）在特定宗教上存在差异的证据。