Abstract
We provide first evidence of a link from daily air pollution exposure to sleep loss in a panel of Chinese cities. We develop a social media-based, city-level metric for sleeplessness, and bolster causal claims by instrumenting for pollution with plausibly exogenous variations in wind patterns. Estimates of effect sizes are substantial and robust. In our preferred specification a one standard deviation increase in AQI causes an 11.6% increase in sleeplessness, and for PM2.5 is 12.8%. The results sustain qualitatively under OLS estimation but are attenuated. The analysis provides a previously unaccounted for benefit of more stringent air quality regulation. It also offers a candidate mechanism in support of recent research that links daily air quality to diminished workplace productivity, cognitive performance, school absence, traffic accidents, and other detrimental outcomes.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 102247 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management |
Volume | 98 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors acknowledge financial support for this project from the CRC and from SSHRC under Insight Grant project #435-2017-1069 “Air Pollution and Human Well-being”.☆ The authors acknowledge financial support for this project from the CRC and from SSHRC under Insight Grant project #435-2017-1069 “Air Pollution and Human Well-being”.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
Keywords
- Air pollution
- IV methods
- Social costs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law