American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
When Externalities Collide: Influenza and Pollution
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 15,
no. 2, April 2023
(pp. 320–51)
Abstract
Influenza and air pollution each pose significant health risks with global economic consequences. Their shared etiological pathways present a case of compounding health risk via interacting externalities. Using instrumental variables based on changing wind direction, we show that increased levels of contemporaneous pollution increase influenza hospitalizations. We exploit random variation in effectiveness of the influenza vaccine as an additional instrument to show that vaccine protection neutralizes this relationship. Thus, pollution control and vaccination campaigns jointly provide greater returns than those implied by addressing either in isolation. We show the importance of this consideration in addressing observed gaps in influenza incidence by race.Citation
Graff Zivin, Joshua, Matthew Neidell, Nicholas J. Sanders, and Gregor Singer. 2023. "When Externalities Collide: Influenza and Pollution." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 15 (2): 320–51. DOI: 10.1257/app.20210500Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D62 Externalities
- I12 Health Behavior
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- Q51 Valuation of Environmental Effects
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
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