Does public intervention in dealing with problems of mosquitoes/flies in India crowd out private initiatives?

The spread of vector-borne diseases poses considerable public health challenges in India, such that both government and private households engage in initiatives to tackle the problem. This study utilises two nationally representative datasets (2018 and 2012) to determine if action undertaken by state/local government(s) in India in tackling the problems of mosquitoes/flies is associated with a crowding out of private efforts in addressing the problem; or instead is associated with greater private action. Study findings reveal that local/state government action is associated with an increase in household effort in dealing with the problem of mosquitoes/flies. Action by state/local governments in India may convey information to households which may alter their decision-making calculus regarding returns on investments triggering an increase in private effort complementing the public effort. Accordingly, simple government-sponsored advertising campaigns may not be efficacious in promulgating desired behavioural responses. This study finds that direct government action aimed at mitigating the transmission of vector-borne diseases, together with investment in education, social infrastructure and health system interaction may provide positive information signals to households thus enhancing private investment in health-related activity.