Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331405 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 143
Publisher: 
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza (DISCE), Milano
Abstract: 
This study examines the causal impact of PM2.5 air pollution exposure on premature mortality in Southern European cities from 2010 to 2018. To address endogeneity, we leverage local variations in rainfall as a source of random variation in PM2.5 exposure. Using the Two-Sample Two-Stage Least Squares (TS2SLS) estimator to reconcile monitoring station-level and city-level data, our findings reveal a statistically significant increase in premature mortality caused by PM2.5. According to our preferred specification, a 1% increase in PM2.5 causes a 1.13% rise in the under-65 mortality rate and a 1.41% rise in the infant mortality rate. The results are robust to alternative specifications. The most affected populations are those residing in urban areas (relative to suburban areas) and individuals living in cities located in richer regions (as opposed to poorer ones).
Subjects: 
air pollution
PM2.5
cities
premature mortality
TS2SLS
JEL: 
I18
Q53
Q58
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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