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Air Pollution and Respiratory Ailments among Children in Urban India: Exploring Causality

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  • Arkadipta Ghosh
  • Arnab Mukherji

Abstract

Using a multicity sample from India, we exploit city and fortnightly variation in air pollution to identify its causal effect on the incidence of a common respiratory ailment among children--cough. We account for key sources of confounding in this relationship with a two-way fixed effects estimation strategy. Our results show that air pollution, specifically, particulate matter, has a large and negative health effect that is robust to alternative specifications. These effects are three times larger for children living in slums in comparison to children living outside slums. This suggests that improving urban air quality can lead to equity-enhancing health gains in developing countries. In addition, our falsification tests are able to rule out the possibility that the identified effects are due to other diseases unrelated to air pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Arkadipta Ghosh & Arnab Mukherji, 2014. "Air Pollution and Respiratory Ailments among Children in Urban India: Exploring Causality," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 191-222.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/677754
    DOI: 10.1086/677754
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Beatty, Timothy K.M. & Shimshack, Jay P., 2011. "School buses, diesel emissions, and respiratory health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 987-999.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emily L. Pakhtigian & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Jie-Sheng Tan-Soo, 2024. "Forest Fires, Smoky Kitchens, and Human Health in Indonesia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(8), pages 2115-2141, August.
    2. Timothy J Halliday & John Lynham & Áureo de Paula, 2019. "Vog: Using Volcanic Eruptions to Estimate the Health Costs of Particulates," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(620), pages 1782-1816.
    3. Deepti Goel & Sonam Gupta, 2017. "The Effect of Metro Expansions on Air Pollution in Delhi," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 271-294.
    4. de Paula, Aureo & Halliday, Timothy J. & ,, 2015. "Vog: Using Volcanic Eruptions to Estimate the Health Costs of Particulates and SO2," CEPR Discussion Papers 10543, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Singh, Tejendra Pratap & Visaria, Sujata, 2021. "Up in the Air: Air Pollution and Crime – Evidence from India," SocArXiv hs4xj, Center for Open Science.
    6. Singh, Tejendra Pratap, 2022. "Beyond The Haze: Air Pollution and Student Absenteeism - Evidence from India," OSF Preprints pcva2, Center for Open Science.

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