EC330 AT W2: Air pollution damages

0.0(0)
studied byStudied by 2 people
learnLearn
examPractice Test
spaced repetitionSpaced Repetition
heart puzzleMatch
flashcardsFlashcards
Card Sorting

1/3

encourage image

There's no tags or description

Looks like no tags are added yet.

Study Analytics
Name
Mastery
Learn
Test
Matching
Spaced

No study sessions yet.

4 Terms

1
New cards

What is the motivation of studying air pollution damages?

There is major threats of air pollution to life expectancy at an aggregate level

  • if PM2.5 levels are following WHO guidelines, there is a gain in life expectancy

Understanding these motivations helps identify effective policies to mitigate health risks associated with air pollution.

2
New cards

Challenges in measuring social costs of air pollution externalities

  1. air pollution is not assigned randomly

  2. pollution is not monitored randomly

  3. many air pollutants are correlated

    • damage functions often reflect interactive effects

    • different pollutants combine to affect ambient air quality

    • hence, cannot be linearly estimated because of the correlation

  4. short and long run exposure may have different effects

    • short run variation in air pollution levels is helpful in obtaining unbiased estimates of effects

    • however, long run responses may be quite different and we care more about this!

  5. many outcomes may be affected

    • health

      • life expectancy, respiratory disease

    • mental illness

    • suicide

    • labour productivity

    • labour supply

    • cognitive performance

    • school absenteesim

    • agricultural yields

    • defensive expenditures

3
New cards

What kind of bias may occur in estimating relationship between air pollution and health outcomes?

Upward bias

  • people in polluted areas may have worse health for reasons unrelated to pollution ie: poverty, crime

Downward bias

  • polluted areas are more economically active

  • workers may have

    • higher incomes → better access to healthcare

    • younger populations → stronger immune systems

4
New cards

Why do we expect strategic behaviour in pollution monitoring?

firms may deliberately manipulate reported pollution levels to minimize regulatory scrutiny or avoid penalties.

  • lead to underreporting or selective compliance, particularly in the presence of economic incentives or lax enforcement.