The Health Costs of Coal-Fired Power Plants in India

Geoffrey Barrows (), Teevrat Garg () and Akshaya Jha
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Geoffrey Barrows: Ecole Polytechnique, Paris
Teevrat Garg: University of California, San Diego

No 12838, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of coal-fired power plants on infant mortality in India. We find that a one GW increase in coal-fired capacity corresponds to a 14% increase in infant mortality rates in districts near versus far from the plant site. This effect is 2-3 times larger than estimates from the developed world. Our effects are larger for: (1) older plants, (2) plants located in areas with higher baseline levels of pollution, and (3) plants burning domestic rather than imported coal. The environmental benefits from policy aimed at the power sector are thus likely to be substantially higher if targeted at older plants located in more polluted areas tailored to burn domestic rather than imported coal.

Keywords: infant mortality; air pollution; India; electricity; coal; infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 Q48 Q51 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-ene, nep-env and nep-reg
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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