IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/epolec/doi10.1086-711309.html

Geographic and Socioeconomic Heterogeneity in the Benefits of Reducing Air Pollution in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Tatyana Deryugina
  • Nolan Miller
  • David Molitor
  • Julian Reif

Abstract

Policies aimed at reducing the harmful effects of air pollution exposure typically focus on areas with high levels of pollution. However, if a population’s vulnerability to air pollution is imperfectly correlated with current pollution levels, then this approach to air quality regulation may not efficiently target pollution reduction efforts. We examine the geographic and socioeconomic determinants of vulnerability to dying from acute exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution. We find that there is substantial local and regional variability in the share of individuals who are vulnerable to pollution both at the county and ZIP code levels. Vulnerability tends to be negatively related to health and socioeconomic status. Surprisingly, we find that vulnerability is also negatively related to an area’s average PM2.5 pollution level, suggesting that basing air quality regulation only on current pollution levels may fail to effectively target regions with the most to gain by reducing exposure.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatyana Deryugina & Nolan Miller & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2021. "Geographic and Socioeconomic Heterogeneity in the Benefits of Reducing Air Pollution in the United States," Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 157-189.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:epolec:doi:10.1086/711309
    DOI: 10.1086/711309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/711309
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/711309
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/711309?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

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Gilraine, Michael & Zheng, Angela, 2024. "JUE insight: Air pollution and student performance in the U.S," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Camille Salesse, 2022. "Inequality in exposure to air pollution in France: bringing pollutant cocktails into the picture," CEE-M Working Papers hal-03882438, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    3. Chapelle, Guillaume & Domènech Arumí, Gerard & Gobbi, Paula Eugenia, 2023. "Housing, Neighborhoods and Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 17969, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. 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).
    5. Sven A. Hartmann, 2026. "Fog or smog? The impact of uncensored reporting on pollution on individuals’ environmental preferences," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202601, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    6. Michael Gilraine & Angela Zheng, 2022. "Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 30061, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Gabriele Curci & Domenico Depalo & Alessandro Palma, 2023. "The Dirtier You Breathe, The Less Safe You Are. The Effect of Air Pollution on Work Accidents," CEIS Research Paper 554, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 24 May 2023.
    8. Duque, Valentina & Gilraine, Michael, 2020. "Coal Use and Student Performance," Working Papers 2020-07, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    9. Marshall Burke & Sam Heft-Neal & Jessica Li & Anne Driscoll & Patrick Baylis & Matthieu Stigler & Joakim A. Weill & Jennifer A. Burney & Jeff Wen & Marissa L. Childs & Carlos F. Gould, 2022. "Exposures and behavioural responses to wildfire smoke," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1351-1361, October.
    10. Molitor, David & White, Corey, 2024. "Do cities mitigate or exacerbate environmental damages to health?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    11. Singh, Tejendra Pratap, 2022. "Beyond The Haze: Air Pollution and Student Absenteeism - Evidence from India," OSF Preprints pcva2, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    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:ucp:epolec:doi:10.1086/711309. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/EEPE .

    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.