This site is closed! The effect of decommissioning mining waste facilities on mortality in the long run

Claudio Deiana and Ludovica Giua

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2023, vol. 119, issue C

Abstract: Mining is typically linked to industrial development. However, waste generated by mineral extraction is a major source of environmental deterioration. This poses a trade-off between preserving the environment and fostering growth. We assess the long-run consequences of reduced exposure to mining waste on health by exploiting municipality-level variation in the staggered closure of facilities that treat and store mining waste in Italy over the course of five decades. We find that shutting down waste facilities decreases decadal mortality by 126 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (i.e., by nearly 15%), while also improving the literacy and employment rates of the resident population. Our results point to positive health effects dominating potentially negative wealth effects.

Keywords: Mining waste; Waste management; Mining extraction; Pollution; Mortality; Health–wealth trade-off (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J21 N54 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069623000153
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000153

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102797

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management is currently edited by M.A. Cole, A. Lange, D.J. Phaneuf, D. Popp, M.J. Roberts, M.D. Smith, C. Timmins, Q. Weninger and A.J. Yates

More articles in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().