Quantifying the Health and Wealth Benefits of Reducing Point Source Pollution: The Case of the Sugar Industry in Pakistan

Sanaullah Panezai, Ubaid Ali, Alam Zeb, Muhammad Rafiq, Ayat Ullah and Shahab E. Saqib
Additional contact information
Sanaullah Panezai: Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Balochistan, Quetta 87300, Balochistan, Pakistan
Ubaid Ali: Center for the Analysis of Trade and Economic Transition, University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour Pau, 64000 Pau, France
Alam Zeb: Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
Muhammad Rafiq: Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar 25000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Ayat Ullah: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Shahab E. Saqib: Directorate of Commerce Education and Management Sciences, Higher Education Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar 25000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Air pollution is among the major causes of death and disease all around the globe. The prime impact of ambient air pollution is on the lungs through the respiratory system. This study aims to estimate the health cost due to air pollution from a Sugar Mill in the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. To determine the impact of pollution on respiratory illness, primary data were collected from 1141 individuals from 200 households living within a 3 km radius of the mill. The Household Production Method was used to drive the reduced-form Dose–Response Function and the Mitigation Cost Function for assessing the impact of pollution on health and then estimating the monetary cost associated with mitigating such illnesses. The results indicate that about 60% of the respondents living in the surrounding area of the mill suffered from different respiratory illnesses. The study estimates that by reducing the suspended particulate matter (SPM) level by 50%, the expected annual welfare gains to an individual living within a 3 km radius of the mill are US $20.21. The whole community residing within a 3 km radius of the mill will enjoy an estimated welfare gain of PKR. 70.67 million (US $0.511 million). If the pollution standard limits prescribed by the World Health Organization are followed, the expected monetary benefits to all the individuals living within a 3 km radius of the mill are PKR. 114.48 million (US $0.27 million) annually.

Keywords: environmental pollution; health cost; household production function; dose–response function; mitigation cost function; respiratory illnesses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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