Predictors of access to safe drinking water: policy implications

Abstract Nearly one-quarter of the world's population lacks effective access to safe drinking water (SDW). The discovery and implementation of affordable and workable measures to supply safe affordable drinking water internationally remains elusive. Few works have examined a range of economic, institutional, and governance factors influencing that access. To address these gaps in the literature, the current study investigates the role of selected economic, demographic, and hydrologic characteristics as well as institutional and governance indicators, all of which could contribute to explaining access to SDW internationally. It estimates regression models based on data from 74 countries for the period 2012–2017. Results contribute to our understanding of factors that are significant at influencing access to SDW. Results show that demographic, economic, size of the public sector, governance, and educational factors all play important roles. Surprisingly, the avoidance of high levels of corruption and the protection of high levels of civil liberties reveal weaker-than-expected effects. Results carry important implications for informing choices facing communities who seek economically affordable measures to provide access to safe affordable drinking water.