Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245642 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14591
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Conventional wisdom suggests that marginal damages from particulate matter pollution are high in less-developed countries because they are highly polluted. Using administrative data on the universe of births and deaths, we explore birthweight and mortality effects of gestational particulate matter exposure in high-pollution yet high-income Hong Kong. The marginal effects of particulates on birthweight are large but we fail to detect an effect on neonatal mortality. We interpret our stark mortality results in a comparative analysis of pollution-mortality relationships across studies. We provide early evidence that marginal mortality damages from pollution are high in less-developed countries because they are less developed, not because they are more polluted.
Subjects: 
particulate matter
early childhood
comparative analysis
JEL: 
Q53
I15
Q56
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
1.76 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.