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Air pollution and children’s health inequalities

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  • Suarez Castillo, Milena
  • Benatia, David
  • Thi, Christine Le

Abstract

This paper examines the differential impacts of early childhood exposure to air pollution on children’s health care use across parental income groups and vulnerability factors using French administrative data. Our quasi-experimental study reveals significant impacts on emergency admissions and respiratory medication in young children, attributed to air pollution shocks. Using causal machine learning, we identify these health impacts as predominantly affecting 10% of infants, characterized by poor health indicators at birth and lower parental income. Our results indicate that targeted policies based on vulnerability metrics may be more effective than those based solely on exposure levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Suarez Castillo, Milena & Benatia, David & Thi, Christine Le, 2025. "Air pollution and children’s health inequalities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:131:y:2025:i:c:s0095069625000336
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103149
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    Cited by:

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    3. Hai Hong & Kevin Chen, 2026. "When the wind blows: agricultural fire exposure, parental investment, and long-term outcomes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 1-45, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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