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Alerts work! Air quality warnings and cycling

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  • Saberian, Soodeh
  • Heyes, Anthony
  • Rivers, Nicholas

Abstract

Alert programs are central to strategies to reduce pollution exposure and manage its impact. To be effective alerts have to change behavior, but evidence that they do that is sparse. Indeed the majority of published studies fail to find a significant impact of alerts on the outcome behavior that they study. Alerts particularly seek to influence energetic cardio-vascular outdoor pursuits. This study is the first to use administrative data to show that they are effective in reducing participation in such a pursuit (namely cycle use in Sydney, Australia), and to our knowledge the first to show that they are effective in changing any behavior in a non-US setting. We are careful to disentangle possible reactions to realised air quality from the ‘pure’, causal effect of the issuance of an alert. Our results suggest that when an air quality alert is issued, the amount of cycling is reduced by 14–35%, which is a substantial behavioral response. The results are robust to the inclusion of a battery of controls in various combinations, alternative estimation methods and non-linear specifications. We develop various sub-sample results, and also find evidence of alert fatigue.

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  • Saberian, Soodeh & Heyes, Anthony & Rivers, Nicholas, 2017. "Alerts work! Air quality warnings and cycling," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 165-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:49:y:2017:i:c:p:165-185
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2017.05.004
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    5. Laffan, Kate, 2018. "Every breath you take, every move you make: Visits to the outdoors and physical activity help to explain the relationship between air pollution and subjective wellbeing," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 96-113.
    6. Luo, Rachel & Fan, Yichun & Yang, Xin & Zhao, Jinhua & Zheng, Siqi, 2021. "The impact of social externality information on fostering sustainable travel mode choice: A behavioral experiment in Zhengzhou, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 127-145.
    7. Ying Su & Chunyan Lu & Xiaoqing Lin & Lianxiu Zhong & Yibin Gao & Yifan Lei, 2020. "Analysis of Spatio-temporal Characteristics and Driving Forces of Air Quality in the Northern Coastal Comprehensive Economic Zone, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    8. Williams, Austin M., 2019. "Understanding the micro-determinants of defensive behaviors against pollution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 42-51.
    9. Mariano J. Rabassa & Mariana Conte Grand & Christian M. García-Witulski, 2021. "Heat warnings and avoidance behavior: evidence from a bike-sharing system," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(1), pages 1-28, January.
    10. Tong Liu & Guojun He & Alexis Lau, 2018. "Avoidance behavior against air pollution: evidence from online search indices for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters in Chinese cities," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(2), pages 325-363, April.
    11. Dong-Her Shih & Ting-Wei Wu & Wen-Xuan Liu & Po-Yuan Shih, 2019. "An Azure ACES Early Warning System for Air Quality Index Deteriorating," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-23, November.
    12. Magali A. Delmas & Aanchal Kohli, 2020. "Can Apps Make Air Pollution Visible? Learning About Health Impacts Through Engagement with Air Quality Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 279-302, January.
    13. Panle Jia Barwick & Shanjun Li & Liguo Lin & Eric Zou, 2019. "From Fog to Smog: the Value of Pollution Information," NBER Working Papers 26541, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Quan-Hoang Vuong & Tam-Tri Le & Quy Van Khuc & Quang-Loc Nguyen & Minh-Hoang Nguyen, 2022. "Escaping from Air Pollution: Exploring the Psychological Mechanism behind the Emergence of Internal Migration Intention among Urban Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, September.
    15. Lester Lusher & Tim Ruberg, 2024. "Unveiling the Unseen Illness: Public Health Warnings and Heat Stroke," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2024-020, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    16. Morton, Craig, 2020. "The demand for cycle sharing: Examining the links between weather conditions, air quality levels, and cycling demand for regular and casual users," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    17. Wen Hsu & Bing-Fang Hwang & Chau-Ren Jung & Yau-Huo Jimmy Shr, 2021. "Can Air Pollution Save Lives? Air Quality and Risky Behaviors on Roads," Papers 2111.06837, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2021.
    18. Arthur J. Caplan, 2023. "Missing the Warning Signs? The Case of “Yellow Air Day” Advisories in Northern Utah," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(2), pages 479-522, June.
    19. Gong, Wenjing & Rui, Jin & Li, Tianyu, 2024. "Deciphering urban bike-sharing patterns: An in-depth analysis of natural environment and visual quality in New York's Citi bike system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    20. Lusher, Lester & Ruberg, Tim, 2023. "Killer Alerts? Public Health Warnings and Heat Stroke in Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 16562, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Wang, Zhenxuan & Zhang, Junjie, 2023. "The value of information disclosure: Evidence from mask consumption in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information-based regulation; Averting behavior; Urban air quality; Health impacts of air pollution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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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