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Two Mechanisms: The Role of Social Capital and Industrial Pollution Exposure in Explaining Racial Disparities in Self-Rated Health

Author

Listed:
  • Kerry Ard

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Cynthia Colen

    (Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Marisol Becerra

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Thelma Velez

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

Abstract

This study provides an empirical test of two mechanisms (social capital and exposure to air pollution) that are theorized to mediate the effect of neighborhood on health and contribute to racial disparities in health outcomes. To this end, we utilize the Social Capital Benchmark Study, a national survey of individuals nested within communities in the United States, to estimate how multiple dimensions of social capital and exposure to air pollution, explain racial disparities in self-rated health. Our main findings show that when controlling for individual-confounders, and nesting within communities, our indicator of cognitive bridging, generalized trust, decreases the gap in self-rated health between African Americans and Whites by 84%, and the gap between Hispanics and Whites by 54%. Our other indicator of cognitive social capital, cognitive linking as represented by engagement in politics, decreases the gap in health between Hispanics and Whites by 32%, but has little impact on African Americans. We also assessed whether the gap in health was explained by respondents’ estimated exposure to toxicity-weighted air pollutants from large industrial facilities over the previous year. Our results show that accounting for exposure to these toxins has no effect on the racial gap in self-rated health in these data. This paper contributes to the neighborhood effects literature by examining the impact that estimated annual industrial air pollution, and multiple measures of social capital, have on explaining the racial gap in health in a sample of individuals nested within communities across the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerry Ard & Cynthia Colen & Marisol Becerra & Thelma Velez, 2016. "Two Mechanisms: The Role of Social Capital and Industrial Pollution Exposure in Explaining Racial Disparities in Self-Rated Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:10:p:1025-:d:80917
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    1. Roberto Pasetto & Benedetta Mattioli & Daniela Marsili, 2019. "Environmental Justice in Industrially Contaminated Sites. A Review of Scientific Evidence in the WHO European Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Jayajit Chakraborty & Timothy W. Collins & Sara E. Grineski, 2016. "Environmental Justice Research: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Topics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-5, November.
    3. Ruoyu Wang & Desheng Xue & Ye Liu & Penghua Liu & Hongsheng Chen, 2018. "The Relationship between Air Pollution and Depression in China: Is Neighbourhood Social Capital Protective?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-13, June.
    4. Frances M. Nilsen & Jazmin D.C. Ruiz & Nicolle S. Tulve, 2020. "A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-35, July.

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