From Fog to Smog: the Value of Pollution Information

Panle Barwick, Shanjun Li, Liguo Lin and Eric Zou

No 26541, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In 2013, China launched a landmark program to monitor air quality and disclose real-time data, significantly increasing the public’s access to and awareness of pollution information. The program triggered cascading behavioral changes such as stronger avoidance of outdoor pollution exposure and increased spending on protective products. These behavioral responses mitigated the mortality impact of air pollution. Conservative estimates indicate that the program’s health benefits outweigh the costs by an order of magnitude. The findings highlight the benefits of improving public access to pollution information in developing countries which often experience severe air pollution but lack pollution data collection and dissemination.

JEL-codes: D80 I10 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-ene and nep-env
Note: EEE EH IO
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (60)

Published as Panle Jia Barwick & Shanjun Li & Liguo Lin & Eric Yongchen Zou, 2024. "From Fog to Smog: The Value of Pollution Information," American Economic Review, vol 114(5), pages 1338-1381.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w26541.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26541

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w26541

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().