Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> This study investigates the determinants of economic agents' perceptions of water quality and water resource management in the Oueme delta, Benin, using primary survey data collected in April 2021 from 3,075 economic agents aged 16 and above, spanning fishing, agriculture, livestock rearing, water transport and household users. Because a formal test rejects the proportional-odds assumption underlying the standard ordered probit model conventionally used in this literature, and further diagnostics reveal significant heteroskedasticity, the perception model is estimated as a heteroskedastic ordered probit with standard errors clustered by commune. The results show that a recent health shock, the colour of the water, educational attainment and housing tenure are the most robust correlates of dissatisfaction, while age, sex, marital status and religious affiliation contribute comparatively little once these methodological refinements are applied. Residual variance is also significantly higher among rural and more educated respondents, indicating that perceptions are less predictable, not only less favourable, in these groups. The study contributes to the literature by jointly modelling perception across the full range of economic activities dependent on the delta's water resources and by testing, rather than assuming, the statistical adequacy of the ordered probit framework routinely applied in this literature. The findings support water governance responses differentiated by locality and socio-economic profile rather than broad demographic targeting and confirm the practical value of subjective perception data in a context where scientific water-quality monitoring remains limited. <bold>JEL Classification: C25</bold> , <bold>I15</bold> , <bold>O13</bold> , <bold>Q25</bold> , <bold>Q53</bold> </p>