As the Wind Blows: The Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution on Mortality

NBER Working Paper No. 21578

Issued in September 2015

NBER Program(s):Economics of Aging, Environment and Energy Economics, Health Economics, Public Economics



There is strong evidence that short-run fluctuations in air pollution negatively impact infant health and contemporaneous adult health, but there is less evidence on the causal link between long-term exposure to air pollution and increased adult mortality. This project estimates the impact of long-term exposure to air pollution on mortality by leveraging quasi-random variation in pollution levels generated by wind patterns near major highways. We combine geocoded data on the residence of every decedent in Los Angeles over three years, high-frequency wind data, and Census Short Form data. Using these data, we estimate the effect of downwind exposure to highway-generated pollutants on the age-specific mortality rate by using bearing to the nearest major highway as an instrument for pollution exposure. We find that doubling the percentage of time spent downwind of a highway increases mortality among individuals 75 and older by 3.6 to 6.8 percent. These estimates are robust and economically significant.

Acknowledgments

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX

Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w21578

Published: 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, vol 18(4), pages 1886-1927.

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