When: 
Friday, March 3, 2017 - 3:10pm - 5:10pm
Where: 
Simon Center Room 124
Presenter: 
Nicholas Sanders-Cornell University
Price: 
Free

 

The U.S. Acid Rain Program (ARP) caused an immediate and persistent reduction in sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions at select coal power plants in 1995. Building on the link between (1) sulfur emissions and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and (2) PM2.5 and detrimental health effects, we estimate the impact of a shift in long-run pollution exposure on adult mortality using quasi-experimental variation induced by the ARP. We compare changes in mortality for individuals age 35-64 across time in counties surrounding regulated plants to counties farther away using an event-study framework with propensity-score adjustment. We find a reduction in overall adult mortality that increases over time, reaching roughly 5% by the end of our sample period in 2005. Effects are larger for cardiovascular deaths, supporting the role of fine PM2.5 as the relevant mechanism, with no detectable effects for external deaths. We find no effects for labor market outcomes, migration, and population composition, which endogenous sorting and changing economic conditions are not the main channels for mortality improvements. In addition to providing the first event-study evidence of pollution and working- age adult mortality, these findings highlight how short-run mortality estimates for policies with lasting changes may underestimate total program benefits.

 

Sponsored by: 
Department of Economics