Avoidable environmental disasters and infant health: Evidence from a mining dam collapse in Brazil

Bladimir Carrillo, Daniel Da Mata, Lucas Emanuel (), Daniel Lopes () and Breno Sampaio

No 17698, Documentos de Trabajo from The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA)

Abstract: We study the health consequences of one of the largest environmental disasters of the world mining industry, which largely stemmed from regulatory failure. Exploiting the timing and location of the Mariana mine tailings dam collapse in Brazil, we show that in utero exposure to the tragedy significantly reduced birth weight and increased infant mortality. The adverse effects were stronger for infants born to less educated and single mothers. These findings indicate that poorly enforced environmental regulation may have long-term welfare impacts on local communities.

Keywords: Birth weight; Preventable disasters; Mining; In utero exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I18 J13 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 10
Date: 2019-12-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hea and nep-reg
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Avoidable environmental disasters and infant health: Evidence from a mining dam collapse in Brazil (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:col:000518:017698

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