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Before dinner: The health value of gaseous fuels

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  • Luo, Yaping
  • Wu, Jianxian

Abstract

In this paper, we study the impact of gaseous fuels used for cooking on the middle-aged and elderly's health in China. By using 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we find that gaseous fuel use reduces the probability of respiratory disease in middle-aged and elderly adults. Health effects are stronger for the people aged between 45 and 79, female, high-income, urban, and gas-importing province groups. The quantification of health benefits allows to find that from 2010 to 2018, the reduction in the number of respiratory illnesses due to gaseous fuel use ranges from 22.905 to 23.721 million people, resulting in treatment cost savings of between 9.29 and 14.47 billion RMB ($26.4 - $34.2 billion). The monetary valuation of indoor clean air according to self-rated health find that for each additional unit of indoor clean air, middle-aged and elderly adults are willing to pay a price of 4.5 RMB ($1.06). We provide new evidence of the considerable health and welfare effects of gaseous fuels.

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  • Luo, Yaping & Wu, Jianxian, 2024. "Before dinner: The health value of gaseous fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:185:y:2024:i:c:s0301421523005207
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113935
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gaseous fuels; Respiratory health; Indoor air pollution; Welfare; Indoor clean air pricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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