Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance

Jennifer Heissel, Claudia Persico and David Simon

No 25489, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine the effect of school traffic pollution on student outcomes by leveraging variation in wind patterns for schools the same distance from major highways. We compare within-student achievement for students transitioning between schools near highways, where one school has had greater levels of pollution because it is downwind of a highway. Students who move from an elementary/middle school that feeds into a “downwind” middle/high school in the same zip code experience decreases in test scores, more behavioral incidents, and more absences, relative to when they transition to an upwind school. Even within zip codes, microclimates can contribute to inequality.

JEL-codes: I20 I24 I3 Q53 R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published as Jennifer A. Heissel & Claudia Persico & David Simon, 2022. "Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance," Journal of Human Resources, vol 57(3), pages 747-776.

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Journal Article: Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance (2022)
Working Paper: Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance (2019)
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