Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy
This paper's findings suggest that an arbitrary Chinese policy that greatly increases total suspended particulates (TSP) air pollution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy. The quasi-experimental empirical approach is...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81438 |
| _version_ | 1826205997505445888 |
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| author | Chen, Yuyu Ebenstein, Avraham Greenstone, Michael Li, Hongbin |
| author_facet | Chen, Yuyu Ebenstein, Avraham Greenstone, Michael Li, Hongbin |
| author_sort | Chen, Yuyu |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This paper's findings suggest that an arbitrary Chinese policy that greatly increases total suspended particulates (TSP) air pollution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy. The quasi-experimental empirical approach is based on China's Huai River policy, which provided free winter heating via the provision of coal for boilers in cities North of the Huai River but denied heat to the South. Using a regression discontinuity design based on distance from the Huai River, we find that ambient concentrations of TSP are about 184 μg/m3 (95% CI: 61, 307) or 55% higher in the North. Further, the results indicate that life expectancies are about 5.5 (95% CI: 0.8, 10.2) years lower in the North due to an increased incidence of cardiorespiratory mortality. More generally, the analysis suggests that long-term exposure to an additional 100 μg/m3 of TSP is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 years (95% CI: 0.4, 5.6). |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:22:21Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/81438 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:22:21Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/814382019-04-12T11:10:22Z Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy Chen, Yuyu Ebenstein, Avraham Greenstone, Michael Li, Hongbin Life expectancy, air pollution, particulate matter, Chinese policy, Huai This paper's findings suggest that an arbitrary Chinese policy that greatly increases total suspended particulates (TSP) air pollution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy. The quasi-experimental empirical approach is based on China's Huai River policy, which provided free winter heating via the provision of coal for boilers in cities North of the Huai River but denied heat to the South. Using a regression discontinuity design based on distance from the Huai River, we find that ambient concentrations of TSP are about 184 μg/m3 (95% CI: 61, 307) or 55% higher in the North. Further, the results indicate that life expectancies are about 5.5 (95% CI: 0.8, 10.2) years lower in the North due to an increased incidence of cardiorespiratory mortality. More generally, the analysis suggests that long-term exposure to an additional 100 μg/m3 of TSP is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 years (95% CI: 0.4, 5.6). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2013-10-18T23:34:04Z 2013-10-18T23:34:04Z 2013-10-18 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81438 en_US MIT Department of Economics Working Paper Series;13-15 application/pdf Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Life expectancy, air pollution, particulate matter, Chinese policy, Huai Chen, Yuyu Ebenstein, Avraham Greenstone, Michael Li, Hongbin Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title | Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title_full | Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title_fullStr | Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title_short | Evidence on the impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy |
| title_sort | evidence on the impact of sustained exposure to air pollution on life expectancy from china s huai river policy |
| topic | Life expectancy, air pollution, particulate matter, Chinese policy, Huai |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81438 |
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