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Disentangling the effects of air pollutants with many instruments

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  • Godzinski, Alexandre
  • Suarez Castillo, Milena

Abstract

Air pollution poses a major threat to human health. Far from unidimensional, air pollution is multifaceted, but quasi-experimental studies have been struggling to grasp the consequences of the multiple hazards. By selecting optimal instruments from a novel and large set of altitude–weather instrumental variables, we disentangle the impact of five air pollutants in a comprehensive assessment of their short-term health impact in the largest urban areas of France over 2010–2015. We find that higher levels of at least two air pollutants, ozone and sulfur dioxide, lead to more respiratory-related emergency admissions. Children and elderly are mostly affected. Carbon monoxide increases emergency admissions for cardiovascular diseases while particulate matter is found responsible for increasing the cardiovascular-related mortality rate, and sulfur dioxide the respiratory-related mortality rate. Assuming a five air pollutants context, we show that an analyst who ignored the presence of interrelations between air pollutants would have reached partially false conclusions.

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  • Godzinski, Alexandre & Suarez Castillo, Milena, 2021. "Disentangling the effects of air pollutants with many instruments," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:109:y:2021:i:c:s0095069621000668
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102489
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    2. Raphael Lafrogne-Joussier & Julien Martin & Isabelle Mejean, 2023. "Supply Shocks in Supply Chains: Evidence from the Early Lockdown in China," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 170-215, March.
    3. Clara Kögel, 2022. "The impact of air pollution on labour productivity in France," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22020, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    4. Yabin Da & Yangyang Xu & Bruce McCarl, 2022. "Effects of Surface Ozone and Climate on Historical (1980–2015) Crop Yields in the United States: Implication for Mid-21st Century Projection," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(2), pages 355-378, February.
    5. Yao, Yao & Li, Xue & Smyth, Russell & Zhang, Lin, 2022. "Air pollution and political trust in local government: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Lucie Letrouit & Martin Koning, 2023. "How large are the costs of local pollution emitted by freight vehicles? Insights from the COVID-19 lockdown in Paris," Working Papers hal-04106196, HAL.
    7. Pham, Linh & Roach, Travis, 2023. "Particulate pollution and learning," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Dardati, Evangelina & de Elejalde, Ramiro & Giolito, Eugenio, 2021. "On the Short-Term Impact of Pollution: The Effect of PM 2.5 on Emergency Room Visits," IZA Discussion Papers 14599, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Bagilet, Vincent & Zabrocki-Hallak, Léo, 2022. "Why Some Acute Health Effects of Air Pollution Could Be Inflated," I4R Discussion Paper Series 11, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    10. Yuxin Zhao & Xingqin An & Zhaobin Sun & Yi Li & Qing Hou, 2022. "Identification of Health Effects of Complex Air Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; Health; Emergency hospital admissions; Mortality; Planetary boundary layer; IV Lasso;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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