Seminar Vol. 210
Title: The Human Impact of Air Pollution: Three Studies Using Internet Metrics
Speaker: Mingying Zhu, Nanjing University
Time: March 27th, 2020 13:30-15:00
About the speaker:
Mingying Zhu is currently an Assistant Professor at the Business School of Nanjing University. She obtained Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa in 2019. Her main research interests are in Environmental Economics, Econometrics, Health Economics, Behavioral Economics and Applied Economics.
Abstract:
The presentation is related to three studies which investigate the causal link from short-term air pollution to a series of novel outcome variables. In particular, (1) sleep quality, (2) cough, and (3) plans to migrate. Each study is based on China, where poor air quality is widely-understood to be an important social issue, focusing on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the multi-pollutant Air Quality Index (AQI). For dependent variables in each case, I exploit data derived from internet behavior: In particular search behavior on the very widely-used Baidu search engine and posts on the ubiquitous social media site Weibo. Data is scraped and used to develop pertinent proxies in each case. In each chapter causal claims are bolstered by the use of instrumental variables (IV) methods, in order to address endogeneity concerns. Results in each study are highly statistically significant, prove to be resilient in a wide array of robustness tests and falsification exercises, and are substantial in size. My analysis further broadens and deepens our understanding of the various ways in which the air pollution levels seen in Chinese cities, and in many other parts of the world, can damage human well-being, and identifies previously unaccounted-for benefits of more stringent regulation of air quality.
Interested in this webinar? Please contact Feiyan at feiyantang@jnu.edu.cn to register.
