Homeownership and Aerosol Air Pollution

Frank Simmen and Bernd Süssmuth

No 12581, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We show that particulate matter pollution is lower in advanced economies where political parties favor homeownership. We rationalize this with a simple model featuring a polluting industry and owner-occupiers who push to restrict undesirable land uses. Pollution declines when homeowners have enough political power to enforce their preferences. We test this using data from German planning regions (2002–2014). Exploiting World War II area bombing as an instrument for homeownership - via its long-run effects on tenure patterns - we provide evidence suggesting a causal link between higher homeownership rates and lower air pollution.

Keywords: homeownership; pollution; particulate matter; not-in-my-backyard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q53 R38 R53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12581

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