Seminar Vol. 175

Title: Childhood Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from China

Speaker:Avraham Ebenstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Time: September 6, 2019  13:30-15:00

Venue: Conference Room 106B, Zhonghui Building (IESR, JNU College of Economics)

About the speaker:

Avraham Ebenstein is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. in economics from University of California, Berkeley in 2007. His fields of interest include environmental economics, health economics, and economic demography. Dr. Ebenstein's past research examined the impact of fertility control policy in China on the sex ratio, and investigated policies that might address the missing girls phenomenon in Asia. His current research examines the health impacts of environmental deterioration and the design of effective environmental policy, with a focus on developing countries. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Population Economics.

Abstract:

This paper examines the impact of childhood exposure to total suspended particulate (TSP) air pollution on human capital development and later labor market success. The analysis relies on a regression discontinuity design (RDD) generated by China’s Huai River Policy, which provided subsidized coal for indoor heating during the winter to cities north of the Huai River but not to those to the south. The key findings are that children born just to the north of the Huai River were exposed to TSP concentrations that were about 50% higher, completed 0.83 fewer years of education, and earned 12%-22% lower incomes as adults, relative to children born just to the south. All findings are robust to using parametric and nonparametric estimation methods to adjust for distance from the Huai River, different kernel types, and alternative bandwidth sizes. The estimation of the income effects uses a RDD to quasi-experimentally vary TSP exposure, while also adjusting for all current city-level determinants of incomes by comparing migrants who are born just to the north and south of the Huai River.