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School bus emissions, student health and academic performance

Author

Listed:
  • Austin, Wes
  • Heutel, Garth
  • Kreisman, Daniel

Abstract

Diesel emissions from school buses expose children to high levels of air pollution; retrofitting bus engines can substantially reduce this exposure. Using variation from 2656 retrofits across Georgia, we estimate effects of emissions reductions on district-level health and academic achievement. We demonstrate positive effects on respiratory health, measured by a statewide test of aerobic capacity. Placebo tests on body mass index show no impact. We also find that retrofitting districts experience significant test score gains in English and smaller gains in math. Our results suggest that engine retrofits can have meaningful and cost-effective impacts on health and cognitive functioning.

Suggested Citation

  • Austin, Wes & Heutel, Garth & Kreisman, Daniel, 2019. "School bus emissions, student health and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 109-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:70:y:2019:i:c:p:109-126
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.03.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Laure de Preux & Dheeya Rizmie & Daniela Fecht & John Gulliver & Weiyi Wang, 2023. "Does It Measure Up? A Comparison of Pollution Exposure Assessment Techniques Applied across Hospitals in England," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-26, February.
    2. Michelle Marcus, 2021. "Pollution at schools and children's aerobic capacity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3016-3031, December.
    3. Daniel Montolio & Pere A. Taberner, 2025. "Crime at your doorstep: Gender-specific effects on university student performance," Working Papers 2025/07, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    4. Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Do environmental disasters affect human capital? The threat of forest fires," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Kaestner, Robert & Schiman, Cuiping & Ward, Jason, 2020. "Education and health over the life cycle," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Wes Austin & Stefano Carattini & John Gomez Mahecha & Michael Pesko, 2020. "COVID-19 Mortality and Contemporaneous Air Pollution," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper2016, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    7. repec:osf:osfxxx:pcva2_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Diane Alexander & Hannes Schwandt, 2022. "The Impact of Car Pollution on Infant and Child Health: Evidence from Emissions Cheating," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(6), pages 2872-2910.
    9. Aldy, Joseph E., 2022. "Learning How to Build Back Better through Clean Energy Policy Evaluation," RFF Working Paper Series 22-15, Resources for the Future.
    10. Marcus, Michelle, 2025. "Testing above the limit: Drinking water contamination and test scores," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    11. Singh, Tejendra Pratap & Visaria, Sujata, 2021. "Up in the Air: Air Pollution and Crime – Evidence from India," SocArXiv hs4xj, Center for Open Science.
    12. Hui Deng & Rui Du & Dongmei Guo & Weizeng Sun & Yuhuan Xia, 2023. "High‐stakes examinations and educational inequality: Evidence from transitory exposure to air pollution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 546-571, July.
    13. Apriesnig, Jenny L. & Manning, Dale T. & Suter, Jordan F. & Magzamen, Sheryl & Cross, Jennifer E., 2020. "Academic stars and Energy Stars, an assessment of student academic achievement and school building energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    14. Rong, Peijun & Kwan, Mei-Po & Qin, Yaochen & Zheng, Zhicheng, 2022. "A review of research on low-carbon school trips and their implications for human-environment relationship," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Komisarow, Sarah & Pakhtigian, Emily L., 2022. "Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air quality and school absences," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. 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).
    17. Heyes, Anthony & Saberian, Soodeh, 2024. "Pollution and learning: Causal evidence from Obama’s Iran sanctions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Graff Zivin, Joshua & Liu, Tong & Song, Yingquan & Tang, Qu & Zhang, Peng, 2020. "The unintended impacts of agricultural fires: Human capital in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    19. repec:osf:socarx:hs4xj_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Singh, Tejendra Pratap, 2022. "Beyond The Haze: Air Pollution and Student Absenteeism - Evidence from India," OSF Preprints pcva2, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • 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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