East-Side Story: Historical Pollution and Persistent Neighborhood Sorting

Stephan Heblich, Alex Trew and Yanos Zylberberg

Journal of Political Economy, 2021, vol. 129, issue 5, 1508 - 1552

Abstract: Why are the east sides of formerly industrial cities more deprived? To answer this question, we use individual-level census data and create historical pollution patterns derived from the locations of 5,000 industrial chimneys and an atmospheric model. We show that this observation results from path-dependent neighborhood sorting that began during the Industrial Revolution, as prevailing winds blew pollution eastward. Past pollution explains up to 20% of observed neighborhood segregation in 2011, even though coal pollution stopped in the 1970s. We develop a quantitative model to identify the role of neighborhood effects and relocation rigidities underlying this persistence.

Date: 2021
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Working Paper: East Side Story: Historical Pollution and Persistent Neighborhood Sorting (2016)
Working Paper: East Side Story: Historical Pollution and Persistent Neighborhood Sorting (2016)
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