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Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air quality and school absences

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  • Komisarow, Sarah
  • Pakhtigian, Emily L.

Abstract

In this paper we study the effects of three large, nearly-simultaneous coal-fired power plant closures on school absences in Chicago. We find that the closures resulted in a 6 percent reduction in absenteeism in nearby schools relative to those farther away following the closures. For the typical elementary school in our sample, this translates into around 363 fewer absence-days per year in the aggregate, or 0.66 fewer annual absences per student. To explore potential mechanisms responsible for these absence reductions, we investigate the effects of the closures on endogenous migration to neighborhoods near the plants (mediated through housing prices) and emergency department visits for asthma-related conditions among school-age children. We do not find strong evidence of endogenous migration into neighborhoods near the coal-fired power plants following the closures but do find declines in rates of emergency department visits in areas near the three plants. Given inequalities in exposure to operational coal-fired power plants and other large, industrial polluters, our findings suggest that transitions towards alternative energy sources could play an important role in addressing educational inequality.

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  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0095069621001182
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102569
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    Cited by:

    1. Pham, Linh & Roach, Travis, 2023. "Particulate pollution and learning," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Brooks, Nina & Biswas, Debashish & Hossin, Raduan & Yu, Alexander & Saha, Shampa & Saha, Senjuti & Saha, Samir K. & Luby, Stephen P., 2023. "Health consequences of small-scale industrial pollution: Evidence from the brick sector in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "No pain, no gain? Mining pollution and morbidity," Discussion Papers 2203, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    4. Ohler, Adrienne, 2023. "The Economics of Environmental Health Disparities: Who Benefits from Coal Power Plant Closures?," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335760, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coal-fired power plants; Children; School absences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • 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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