IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhecon/v59y2018icp91-108.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can natural gas save lives? Evidence from the deployment of a fuel delivery system in a developing country

Author

Listed:
  • Cesur, Resul
  • Tekin, Erdal
  • Ulker, Aydogan

Abstract

There has been a widespread displacement of coal by natural gas as space heating and cooking technology in Turkey in the last two decades, triggered by the deployment of natural gas networks. We examine the impact of this development on mortality among adults and the elderly by exploiting the variation in the timing of the deployment and the intensity of expansion of gas networks across provinces using data from 2001 to 2016. The results indicate that the expansion of natural gas has caused significant reductions in mortality among both adults and the elderly. These findings are supported by our auxiliary analysis, which demonstrates that the expansion of natural gas networks might have led to a significant improvement in air quality. Furthermore, we show that the mortality gains are primarily driven by reductions in cardio-respiratory deaths, which are more likely to be due to conditions caused or exacerbated by air pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Cesur, Resul & Tekin, Erdal & Ulker, Aydogan, 2018. "Can natural gas save lives? Evidence from the deployment of a fuel delivery system in a developing country," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 91-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:59:y:2018:i:c:p:91-108
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629617306057
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    2. Paltsev, Sergey & Jacoby, Henry D. & Reilly, John M. & Ejaz, Qudsia J. & Morris, Jennifer & O'Sullivan, Francis & Rausch, Sebastian & Winchester, Niven & Kragha, Oghenerume, 2011. "The future of U.S. natural gas production, use, and trade," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5309-5321, September.
    3. Chay, Kenneth & Dobkin, Carlos & Greenstone, Michael, 2003. "The Clean Air Act of 1970 and Adult Mortality," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 279-300, December.
    4. Cesur, Resul & Güneş, Pınar Mine & Tekin, Erdal & Ulker, Aydogan, 2017. "The value of socialized medicine: The impact of universal primary healthcare provision on mortality rates in Turkey," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 75-93.
    5. Rema Hanna & Esther Duflo & Michael Greenstone, 2016. "Up in Smoke: The Influence of Household Behavior on the Long-Run Impact of Improved Cooking Stoves," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 80-114, February.
    6. Resul Cesur & Erdal Tekin & Aydogan Ulker, 2017. "Air Pollution and Infant Mortality: Evidence from the Expansion of Natural Gas Infrastructure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(600), pages 330-362, March.
    7. Hill, Elaine L., 2018. "Shale gas development and infant health: Evidence from Pennsylvania," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 134-150.
    8. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2013. "Environment, Health, and Human Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 689-730, September.
    9. Lockwood, Alan H., M.D., 2012. "The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026201789x, December.
    10. Barreca, Alan I. & Clay, Karen & Tarr, Joel, 2014. "Coal, Smoke, and Death: Bituminous Coal and American Home Heating," IZA Discussion Papers 7987, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Seema Jayachandran, 2009. "Air Quality and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Indonesia’s Wildfires," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(4).
    12. Kenneth Y. Chay & Michael Greenstone, 2003. "Air Quality, Infant Mortality, and the Clean Air Act of 1970," Working Papers 0406, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
    13. Robert W. Howarth & Anthony Ingraffea & Terry Engelder, 2011. "Should fracking stop?," Nature, Nature, vol. 477(7364), pages 271-275, September.
    14. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    15. Ali GÖKHAN & Alpay FILIZTEKIN, 2008. "The Determinants of Internal Migration In Turkey," EcoMod2008 23800044, EcoMod.
    16. Christopher R. Knittel & Konstantinos Metaxoglou & Andre Trindade, 2015. "Natural Gas Prices and Coal Displacement: Evidence from Electricity Markets," NBER Working Papers 21627, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Michael L Anderson, 2020. "As the Wind Blows: The Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution on Mortality," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1886-1927.
    18. Hill, Elaine L., 2012. "Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Infant Health: Evidence from Pennsylvania," Working Papers 128815, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    19. Resul Cesur & Erdal Tekin & Aydogan Ulker, 2017. "Air Pollution and Infant Mortality: Evidence from the Expansion of Natural Gas Infrastructure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(600), pages 330-362, March.
    20. Alan I. Barreca & Matthew Neidell & Nicholas J. Sanders, 2017. "Long-Run Pollution Exposure and Adult Mortality: Evidence from the Acid Rain Program," NBER Working Papers 23524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Did Unilateral Divorce Laws Raise Divorce Rates? A Reconciliation and New Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1802-1820, December.
    22. Cesur, Resul & Gunes, Pinar Mine & Tekin, Erdal & Ulker, Aydogan, 2015. "The Value of Socialized Medicine: The Impact of Universal Primary Healthcare Provision on Birth and Mortality Rates in Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 9329, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Finkel, M.L. & Law, A., 2011. "The rush to drill for natural gas: A public health cautionary tale," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(5), pages 784-785.
    24. Chandler McClellan & Erdal Tekin, 2017. "Stand Your Ground Laws, Homicides, and Injuries," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(3), pages 621-653.
    25. Michael Levi, 2013. "Climate consequences of natural gas as a bridge fuel," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 609-623, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cesur, Resul & Güneş, Pınar Mine & Tekin, Erdal & Ulker, Aydogan, 2017. "The value of socialized medicine: The impact of universal primary healthcare provision on mortality rates in Turkey," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 75-93.
    2. LaPlue, Lawrence D., 2022. "Environmental consequences of natural gas wellhead pricing deregulation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. Huiying Chen & Shuyan Gu & Cangcang Jia & Hai Gu & Qinglin Xu & Zi Lin, 2023. "Effects of Household Clean Fuel Combustion on the Physical and Mental Health of the Elderly in Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Siyu Chen & Lingyun He, 2021. "Air Pollution and Medical Insurance: From a Health-Based Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Zhe Michelle Dong & Han Lin Shang & Aaron Bruhn, 2022. "Air Pollution and Mortality Impacts," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Li, Wenli & Yu, Youping & He, Qiang & Xu, Dingde & Qi, Yanbin & Deng, Xin, 2023. "Impact of clean energy use on the subjective health of household members: Empirical evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    7. Guven, Cahit & Tong, Lan & Ulubasoglu, Mehmet, 2021. "Growing More Rice with Less Water: The System of Rice Intensification and Rice Productivity in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 108768, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Li, Hui & Zhao, Jun & Zhang, Ruining & Hou, Bingdong, 2022. "The natural gas consumption and mortality nexus: A mediation analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    9. Liwei Tang & Ke Li & Pinrong Jia, 2020. "Impact of Environmental Regulations on Environmental Quality and Public Health in China: Empirical Analysis with Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Lan Anh Tong & Mehmet Ali Ulubaşoğlu & Cahit Guven, 2022. "Growing more Rice with less water: the System of Rice Intensification and water productivity in Vietnam," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(3), pages 581-611, July.
    11. Hou, Bingdong & Zhang, Lingyue & Ai, Xianneng & Li, Hui, 2021. "Impact of city gas on mortality in China: National and regional estimates," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    12. Matthew E. Kahn & Somik Lall, 2022. "Will the Developing World’s Growing Middle Class Support Low Carbon Policies?," NBER Working Papers 30238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Veysel Avsar & Gultekin Gollu & Nurgul Sevinc, 2022. "Strict trade measures, flexible financing," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(4), pages 1431-1452, April.
    14. Hong, Xudong & Wu, Shengnan & Zhang, Xueliang, 2022. "Clean energy powers energy poverty alleviation: Evidence from Chinese micro-survey data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    15. Shu Wu, 2021. "The Health Impact of Household Cooking Fuel Choice on Women: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    16. Wu, Shu, 2022. "Household fuel switching and the elderly's health: Evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Yangjie & Chen, Xiaohong & Ren, Shenggang, 2019. "Clean energy adoption and maternal health: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Fukushima, Nanna, 2021. "The UK Clean Air Act, Black Smoke, and Infant Mortality," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 587, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Sankar, Ashwini & Coggins, Jay S. & Goodkind, Andrew L., 2020. "Effectiveness of air pollution standards in reducing mortality in India," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Marcos A. Rangel & Tom S. Vogl, 2019. "Agricultural Fires and Health at Birth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(4), pages 616-630, October.
    5. Walker Hanlon, 2018. "London fog: A century of pollution and mortality, 1866-1965," Working Papers 18019, Economic History Society.
    6. Cheung, Chun Wai & He, Guojun & Pan, Yuhang, 2020. "Mitigating the air pollution effect? The remarkable decline in the pollution-mortality relationship in Hong Kong," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Xu, Shang & Allen Klaiber, H., 2019. "The impact of new natural gas pipelines on emissions and fuel consumption in China," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 49-62.
    8. Thomas Stoerk, 2017. "Compliance, Efficiency and Instrument Choice: Evidence from air pollution control in China," GRI Working Papers 273, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    9. Colmer, Jonathan & Lin, Dajun & Liu, Siying & Shimshack, Jay, 2021. "Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high-Income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Resul Cesur & Erdal Tekin & Aydogan Ulker, 2017. "Air Pollution and Infant Mortality: Evidence from the Expansion of Natural Gas Infrastructure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(600), pages 330-362, March.
    11. W. Walker Hanlon & Yuan Tian, 2015. "Killer Cities: Past and Present," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 570-575, May.
    12. W. Walker Hanlon, 2015. "Pollution and Mortality in the 19th Century," NBER Working Papers 21647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "The intended and unintended consequences of large electricity subsidies: evidence from Mongolia," Discussion Papers 2202, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    14. Alex Hollingsworth & Ivan Rudik, 2021. "The Effect of Leaded Gasoline on Elderly Mortality: Evidence from Regulatory Exemptions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 345-373, August.
    15. He, Guojun & Fan, Maoyong & Zhou, Maigeng, 2016. "The effect of air pollution on mortality in China: Evidence from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 18-39.
    16. Alessandro Palma & Inna Petrunyk & Daniela Vuri, 2022. "Prenatal air pollution exposure and neonatal health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 729-759, May.
    17. Hollingsworth, Alex J. & Konisky, David M. & Zirogiannis, Nikolaos, 2021. "The health consequences of excess emissions: Evidence from Texas," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    18. Imelda, Imelda, 2019. "Cooking that Kills : Cleaner Energy, Indoor Air Pollution, and Health," UC3M Working papers. Economics 27982, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    19. Alex Hollingsworth & Ivan Rudik, 2021. "The Effect of Leaded Gasoline on Elderly Mortality: Evidence from Regulatory Exemptions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 345-373, August.
    20. Chen, Shuo & Li, Yiran & Yao, Qin, 2018. "The health costs of the industrial leap forward in China: Evidence from the sulfur dioxide emissions of coal-fired power stations," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 68-83.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortality; Air pollution; Natural gas; Coal; Turkey; Fracking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:59:y:2018:i:c:p:91-108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505560 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.