Abstract
This study draws on London’s long experience with air pollution in order to improve our understanding of the overall effects of pollution exposure and how and why these effects evolve as locations develop. I compare uniquely detailed new mortality data covering 1866 to 1965 to the timing of London’s famous fog events, which trapped emissions in the city. I show that air pollution was a major contributor to mortality in London over this period and that it interacted strongly with specific infectious diseases. As a consequence of this interaction, reductions in the infectious disease burden substantially altered the health costs of pollution.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 910-923 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Review of Economics and Statistics |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2024 |
Funding
I thank Eva Arceo, Vellore Arthi, Alastair Ball, Brian Beach, David Cutler, Tatyana Deryugina, Casper Worm Hanson, Stephan Heblich, Richard Hornbeck, Maggie Jones, David Molitor, Matthew Neidell, Felix Pretis, Edson Severnini, Katherin Sudol, and seminar participants at Bristol, CIDE, Simon Fraser, UCLA, the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and the Economic History Society for helpful comments. I am grateful to Shmuel San, Giorgio Ravalli, and Anna Sudol for excellent research assistance. Funding for this project was provided by National Science Foundation CAREER Grant 1552692.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics
