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Environmental justice and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from New York State

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  • Zhang, Ruohao
  • Li, Huan
  • Khanna, Neha

Abstract

The decline in human mobility and socioeconomic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by reports of significant improvements in air quality. We evaluate whether there was a uniform improvement in air quality across neighborhoods, with a special attention on differences by race. We focus on the COVID-19 lockdown in New York State, an early epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. Using a triple difference-in-differences model, we find that, despite the seasonal decline in particulate matter pollution starting late March (concurrent with the lockdown period), the lockdown narrowed the disparity in air quality between census tracts with high and low shares of non-white population in rural New York, whereas the racial gap in air quality remained unchanged in urban New York.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Ruohao & Li, Huan & Khanna, Neha, 2021. "Environmental justice and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from New York State," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:110:y:2021:i:c:s0095069621001091
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102554
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    Cited by:

    1. Austin, Wes & Carattini, Stefano & Gomez-Mahecha, John & Pesko, Michael F., 2023. "The effects of contemporaneous air pollution on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Karen X. Yan, 2023. "How do the stay-at-home (SAH) orders affect air quality? Evidence from the northeastern USA," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2085-2103, May.
    3. Wang, Linfeng & Shi, Tie & Chen, Hanyi, 2023. "Air pollution and infant mortality: Evidence from China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Novel coronavirus; Lockdown; Stay-at-home order; Environmental justice; PM2.5; Aerosol optical depth; Racial inequality; Seasonality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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