Key Subjects: Pollution Abatement, Cap-and-Trade Programs, Ozone, Birth Outcomes, Prenatal Development, In-Utero Exposures
Abstract: This paper examines the impacts of the Nitrogen Oxide Budget Program (NBP), a program that created a cap-and-trade market to regulate ozone pollution, on infants’ health outcomes. I employ the universe of birth records in the US from 1995 to 2008 and implement event studies using a triple-difference identification strategy. I show that while the NBP resulted in reductions in earnings and employment, the health benefits driven by pollution reduction led to net improvements in infants’ health. Full exposure to the NBP reduces the incidence of low birth weight and very preterm birth by about 5.5% and 13%, respectively. A heterogeneity analysis suggests substantially larger effects among Black mothers, low-educated mothers, and single mothers. I provide empirical evidence to rule out endogenous changes in the selective fertility behavior of parents and changes in healthcare that could confound the estimates. A series of event studies do not support concerns that the effects reflect pre-existing trends in birth outcomes. Finally, I discuss the economic significance of the results in light of other exposures and their later-life impacts.
Key subjects: Pollution, Acid Rain, Birth Outcomes, Prenatal Development, In-Utero Exposures
Abstract: The Acid Rain Program (ARP), the first cap-and-trade market aimed at reducing power plant emissions and, hence, the incidence of acid rain, was one of the most successful amendments to the Clean Air Act. This paper investigates the impacts of the ARP on infant health outcomes. I employ the universe of birth records in the US from 1985 to 2010 and implement event studies and difference-in-difference estimations to evaluate changes in birth outcomes in high- versus low-exposure counties in different years relative to the ARP. I find significant improvements in birth outcomes, with the largest effects for infants at the lower tails of the birth weight and gestational age distributions. Exposure to the ARP is associated with a 2.9% and 3.9% reduction in low birth weight and preterm birth, respectively. I find substantially larger impacts among Black mothers and low-educated mothers, suggesting the role of environmental policies in reducing environmental injustice and health disparities. Furthermore, I discuss the policy implications and economic significance of these findings in light of the previous literature.
Environmental policies and job market dynamics: evidence from the acid rain program
New evidence on the effects of social spending on infants’ health [with Hoa Vu]
From Little Acorns, Mighty Oaks Grow: Early Life Exposure to Food Stamp and the Next Generation’s Health [with Hamid Noghanibehambari and Yang Wang]
Health effects of environmental policies: new evidence from the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
Pollution abatement policies and infant mortality: evidence from nitrogen oxides budget program [with Monica Garcia-Perez and Assad Tavakoli]
Noghanibehambari, H, Bagheri, H, Salari M, Tavassoli N, Javid R, Toranji, M (2023) Breathing in the future: prenatal exposure to air pollution and infants’ health outcomes in the USA, Public Health
Noghanibehambari, H, Noghani, F, Tavassoli, N (2023) Social externalities of women empowerment: evidence from suffrage movements of late nineteenth and early twentieth century United States, Scottish Journal of Political Economy
Noghanibehambari, H, Tavassoli, N, Noghani, F (2023) Intergenerational transmission of culture among first-and second-generation immigrants: the case of age at first birth and nonmarital childbirth, Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy
Noghanibehambari, H, Tavassoli, N (2022) An ounce of prevention, a pound of cure: the effects of college expansions on crime, International Review of Law and Economics
Noghanibehambari, H, Noghani, F, Tavassoli, N (2022) Child support enforcement and child mortality, Applied Economic Letters
Noghanibehambari, H, Salari, M, Tavassoli, N (2022) Maternal human capital and infants’ health outcomes: evidence from minimum dropout age policies in the US, SSM-Population Health
Tavassoli, N (2021) The transition of son preference: evidence from Southeast Asian countries, Economics
Noghanibehambari, H, Tavassoli, N, Noghani, F (2021) Labor demand shocks, unemployment, and suicide: evidence from provinces across Iran, Middle East Development Journal
Toranji, M, Noghanibehambari, H, Noghani, F, Tavassoli, N (2020) A game theoretic approach in bidding strategy in Iran wholesale electricity market, The Journal of Applied Business and Economics