Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high-Income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong

Jonathan Colmer (), Dajun Lin, Siying Liu and Jay Shimshack

Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 79, issue C

Abstract: Conventional wisdom suggests that marginal damages from particulate matter pollution are high in less-developed countries because they are highly polluted. Using administrative data on the universe of births and deaths, we explore birthweight and mortality effects of gestational particulate matter exposure in high-pollution yet high-income Hong Kong. The marginal effects of particulates on birthweight are large but we fail to detect an effect on neonatal mortality. We interpret our stark mortality results in a comparative analysis of pollution-mortality relationships across studies. We provide early evidence that marginal mortality damages from pollution are high in less-developed countries because they are less developed, not because they are more polluted.

JEL-codes: I15 Q53 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Why Are Pollution Damages Lower in Developed Countries? Insights from High-Income, High-Particulate Matter Hong Kong (2021)
Working Paper: Why Are Pollution Damages Lower in Developed Countries? Insights from High-Income, High-Particulate Matter Hong Kong (2021)
Working Paper: Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong (2020)
Working Paper: Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:79:y:2021:i:c:s0167629621000965

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102511

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