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Every Day Is Earth Day: Evidence on the Long-Term Impact of Environmental Activism

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  • Daniel Hungerman
  • Vivek Moorthy

Abstract

We use variation in weather to study the long-term effects of activism during the original Earth Day on attitudes, environmental outcomes, and children's health. Unusually bad weather on April 22, 1970 is associated with weaker support for the environment 10 to 20 years later, particularly among those who were school aged in 1970. Bad weather on Earth Day is also associated with higher levels of carbon monoxide in the air and greater risk of congenital abnormalities in infants born in the following decades. These results identify benefits to volunteer activity that would be impossible to identify until years after the volunteering occurs.

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  • Daniel Hungerman & Vivek Moorthy, 2023. "Every Day Is Earth Day: Evidence on the Long-Term Impact of Environmental Activism," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 230-258, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:230-58
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20210045
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adam Isen & Maya Rossin-Slater & W. Reed Walker, 2017. "Every Breath You Take—Every Dollar You’ll Make: The Long-Term Consequences of the Clean Air Act of 1970," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 848-902.
    2. Kenneth Y. Chay & Michael Greenstone, 2003. "The Impact of Air Pollution on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Geographic Variation in Pollution Shocks Induced by a Recession," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 1121-1167.
    3. Alexander L. Brown & Jonathan Meer & J. Forrest Williams, 2019. "Why Do People Volunteer? An Experimental Analysis of Preferences for Time Donations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1455-1468, April.
    4. Kimberley Scharf & Sarah Smith & Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm, 2022. "Lift and Shift: The Effect of Fundraising Interventions in Charity Space and Time," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 296-321, August.
    5. Janet Currie & Matthew Neidell, 2005. "Air Pollution and Infant Health: What Can We Learn from California's Recent Experience?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 1003-1030.
    6. Currie, Janet & Neidell, Matthew & Schmieder, Johannes F., 2009. "Air pollution and infant health: Lessons from New Jersey," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 688-703, May.
    7. Christopher R. Knittel & Douglas L. Miller & Nicholas J. Sanders, 2016. "Caution, Drivers! Children Present: Traffic, Pollution, and Infant Health," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 350-366, May.
    8. Jennings, M. Kent & Niemi, Richard G., 1978. "The Persistence of Political Orientations: An Over-Time Analysis of Two Generations," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 333-363, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kountouris, Yiannis, 2022. "Awareness days and environmental attitudes: The case of the “Earth Hour”," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    2. Marini, A. Marco & Nocito, Samuel, 2023. "Climate Activism Favors Pro-environmental Consumption," FEEM Working Papers 338816, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. Falco, Chiara & Corbi, Raphael, 2023. "Natural disasters and preferences for the environment: Evidence from the impressionable years," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Catherine Deri Armstrong & Rose Anne Devlin & Forough Seifi, 2023. "Build it and they will come: Volunteer opportunities and volunteering," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 989-1006, August.
    5. Nupia Martínez, Oscar & Álvarez Gallo, Carlos Andrés, 2024. "The Impact of Massive Protests on Individual Attitudes," Documentos CEDE 21190, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • 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
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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