Coal Smoke and Mortality in an Early Industrial Economy

Brian Beach; W. Walker Hanlon

doi:10.1111/ecoj.12522

Coal Smoke and Mortality in an Early Industrial Economy

Brian Beach, W. Walker Hanlon^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Air pollution was severe in the nineteenth century, yet its health consequences are often overlooked due to a lack of pollution data. We offer a new approach for inferring local coal use levels based on local industrial structure and industry-specific coal use intensity. This allows us to provide the first estimates of the mortality effects of British industrial coal use in 1851–60. Exploiting wind patterns for identification, we find that a one standard deviation increase in coal use raised infant mortality by 6–8% and that industrial coal use explains roughly one-third of the urban mortality penalty observed during this period.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2652-2675
Number of pages	24
Journal	Economic Journal
Volume	128
Issue number	615
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12522
State	Published - Nov 2018
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/ecoj.12522

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title = "Coal Smoke and Mortality in an Early Industrial Economy",

abstract = "Air pollution was severe in the nineteenth century, yet its health consequences are often overlooked due to a lack of pollution data. We offer a new approach for inferring local coal use levels based on local industrial structure and industry-specific coal use intensity. This allows us to provide the first estimates of the mortality effects of British industrial coal use in 1851–60. Exploiting wind patterns for identification, we find that a one standard deviation increase in coal use raised infant mortality by 6–8% and that industrial coal use explains roughly one-third of the urban mortality penalty observed during this period.",

author = "Brian Beach and Hanlon, {W. Walker}",

note = "Funding Information: Fig. 3. Maps of Industrial Coal Use, Population Density and Mortality Notes. Colours correspond to quartiles of each variable, where darker colours indicate higher values. We are grateful to the Cambridge Project on The Occupational Structure of Nineteenth Century Britain (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council) for their generosity in providing us with shapefiles for the 1851 Registration Districts. Infant mortality rates are calculated relative to births. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Royal Economic Society",

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doi = "10.1111/ecoj.12522",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "128",

pages = "2652--2675",

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AU - Hanlon, W. Walker

N1 - Funding Information: Fig. 3. Maps of Industrial Coal Use, Population Density and Mortality Notes. Colours correspond to quartiles of each variable, where darker colours indicate higher values. We are grateful to the Cambridge Project on The Occupational Structure of Nineteenth Century Britain (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council) for their generosity in providing us with shapefiles for the 1851 Registration Districts. Infant mortality rates are calculated relative to births. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Royal Economic Society

PY - 2018/11

Y1 - 2018/11

N2 - Air pollution was severe in the nineteenth century, yet its health consequences are often overlooked due to a lack of pollution data. We offer a new approach for inferring local coal use levels based on local industrial structure and industry-specific coal use intensity. This allows us to provide the first estimates of the mortality effects of British industrial coal use in 1851–60. Exploiting wind patterns for identification, we find that a one standard deviation increase in coal use raised infant mortality by 6–8% and that industrial coal use explains roughly one-third of the urban mortality penalty observed during this period.

AB - Air pollution was severe in the nineteenth century, yet its health consequences are often overlooked due to a lack of pollution data. We offer a new approach for inferring local coal use levels based on local industrial structure and industry-specific coal use intensity. This allows us to provide the first estimates of the mortality effects of British industrial coal use in 1851–60. Exploiting wind patterns for identification, we find that a one standard deviation increase in coal use raised infant mortality by 6–8% and that industrial coal use explains roughly one-third of the urban mortality penalty observed during this period.

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Coal Smoke and Mortality in an Early Industrial Economy

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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