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The Impact of Indonesian Forest Fires on Singaporean Pollution and Health

Author

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  • Tamara L. Sheldon
  • Chandini Sankaran

Abstract

Forest burning in Indonesia results in severe episodes of "seasonal haze" in neighboring Singapore. We offer the first causal analysis of the transboundary health effects of the Indonesian forest burning. Instrumenting for air pollution with satellite fire data, we estimate the impacts of the Indonesian fires on Singaporean polyclinic attendance for acute upper respiratory tract infections and acute conjunctivitis. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the Indonesian fire radiative power increases Singaporean pollution by 1.4 standard deviations and causes a 0.7 standard deviation increase in polyclinic attendance for each of the illnesses examined in this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Tamara L. Sheldon & Chandini Sankaran, 2017. "The Impact of Indonesian Forest Fires on Singaporean Pollution and Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 526-529, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:5:p:526-29
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171134
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Krekel, Christian & Rode, Johannes & Roth, Alexander, 2023. "Do Wind Turbines Have Adverse Health Impacts?," IZA Discussion Papers 16505, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jan F. Kiviet, 2020. "Causes Of Haze And Its Health Effects In Singapore: A Replication Study," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(06), pages 1367-1387, December.
    3. Fu, Shihe & Viard, V. Brian & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "Trans-boundary air pollution spillovers: Physical transport and economic costs by distance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Bakkensen, Laura A. & Ma, Lala & Muehlenbachs, Lucija & Benitez, Lina, 2024. "Cumulative impacts in environmental justice: Insights from economics and policy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Derek Sheehan & Katrina Mullan & Thales A. P. West & Erin O. Semmens, 2024. "Protecting Life and Lung: Protected Areas Affect Fine Particulate Matter and Respiratory Hospitalizations in the Brazilian Amazon Biome," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(1), pages 45-87, January.
    6. Johar, Meliyanni & Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A. & Siminski, Peter & Stavrunova, Olena, 2022. "The economic impacts of direct natural disaster exposure," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 26-39.
    7. Zhao, Xiaolei & Zhao, Ziyao & Mao, Yumeng & Li, Xuemei, 2024. "The role of air pollution in electric vehicle adoption: Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 26-39.
    8. Muhammad Aulia Anis & Wisnu Setiadi Nugroho & Eny Sulistyaningrum, 2023. "A Hazy Future: Exploring the Effect of Air Pollution on Child Development in Indonesia," Gadjah Mada Economics Working Paper Series 202308009, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
    9. Araujo, Rafael & Costa, Francisco J M & Garg, Teevrat, 2022. "Public Attention and Environmental Action: Evidence from Fires in the Amazon," SocArXiv xj3f6, Center for Open Science.
    10. Bagilet, Vincent & Zabrocki-Hallak, Léo, 2022. "Why Some Acute Health Effects of Air Pollution Could Be Inflated," I4R Discussion Paper Series 11, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    11. He, Guojun & Liu, Tong & Zhou, Maigeng, 2020. "Straw burning, PM2.5, and death: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    12. Rocha, Rudi & Sant’Anna, André Albuquerque, 2022. "Winds of fire and smoke: Air pollution and health in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    13. Olga Krivoshapkina & Alexandra Yakovleva & Alexandra Pavlova & Vasily Eroshenko & Akulina Zakharova & Paraskovia Gogoleva & Evgeniy Tikhonov & Ol’ga Kunickaya, 2022. "Environmental safety of residents of Yakutsk and Zhatay: evidence from sociological research," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(3), pages 566-576, September.
    14. Juan Wang & Qiuhe Wei & Qing Wan & Hai Li, 2021. "Heterogeneity Analysis of the Effects of Haze Pollution on the Health of Left-Behind Children in Urban and Rural Areas in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, November.
    15. Du, Rui & Mino, Ajkel & Wang, Jianghao & Zheng, Siqi, 2024. "Transboundary vegetation fire smoke and expressed sentiment: Evidence from Twitter," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    16. Balietti, Anca & Datta, Souvik & Veljanoska, Stefanija, 2022. "Air pollution and child development in India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    17. Agarwal, Sumit & Wang, Long & Yang, Yang, 2021. "Impact of transboundary air pollution on service quality and consumer satisfaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 357-380.
    18. Tamara L. Sheldon & Chandini Sankaran, 2019. "Averting Behavior Among Singaporeans During Indonesian Forest Fires," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(1), pages 159-180, September.
    19. Ginbert P. Cuaton & Laurence L. Delina, 2022. "Two decades of rice research in Indonesia and the Philippines: A systematic review and research agenda for the social sciences," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    20. Zheng, Jiyuan, 2023. "Exposure to wildfires and health outcomes of vulnerable people: Evidence from US data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    21. Edwards, Ryan B. & Naylor, Rosamond L. & Higgins, Matthew M. & Falcon, Walter P., 2020. "Causes of Indonesia’s forest fires," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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