Air Pollution in 88 US Metropolitan Areas: Trends and Persistence

Guglielmo Maria Caporale, Nieves Carmona-González, Luis Gil-Alana and María Fátima Romero Rojo

No 11827, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This paper analyses trends and persistence in air pollution levels in 88 US metropolitan areas using fractional integration methods. The results indicate that the differencing parameter d is higher than 0 in 38 of the series, which supports the hypothesis of long-memory behaviour and implies that, although the effects of shocks are long-lived, they eventually die out. The highest degrees of persistence are found in the Fresno, Bakersfield, Bradenton and San Diego areas. On the whole the gathered evidence indicates that regional differences in pollution levels are significant, with factors such as industrialisation history and extreme weather events playing a crucial role in their degree of persistence. This suggests that, in order to tackle pollution more effectively, federal environmental policies, such as the Clean Air Act, should be complemented by more targeted ones taking into account local characteristics.

JEL-codes: C22 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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