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Air pollution and the airborne diseases: Evidence from China and Japan

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  • He, Guojun
  • Pan, Yuhang
  • Tanaka, Takanao

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of ambient air pollution on the two most economically costly airborne respiratory diseases, COVID-19 and influenza. Our methods incorporate the epidemiological Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered-Deceased (SIRD) model to construct the outcome of interest, the Instrumental Variable (IV) model to establish causality, and the Flexible Distributed Lag (FDL) model to capture dynamic effects. Analyzing data from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, we find that air pollution can significantly raise the daily growth rate of COVID-19. In contrast, air pollution shows small and statistically insignificant effects on influenza healthcare visits in Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Guojun & Pan, Yuhang & Tanaka, Takanao, 2025. "Air pollution and the airborne diseases: Evidence from China and Japan," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:130:y:2025:i:c:s0095069625000014
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103117
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; Infectious disease; Covid-19; Influenza;
    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
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • C54 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Quantitative Policy Modeling

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