煤矿中的金丝雀：20世纪中期空气污染相关的婴儿死亡率与权衡
Canary in a Coal Mine: Infant Mortality and Tradeoffs Associated with Mid-20th Century Air Pollution
Review of Economics and Statistics · 2022 · [{"name": "Karen Clay", "affiliation": ["Carnegie Mellon University"]}, {"name": "Joshua R. Lewis", "affiliation": ["Université de Montréal"]}, {"name": "Edson Severnini", "affiliation": ["Carnegie Mellon University"]}]
中文摘要
本文考察了美国燃煤发电历史性扩张所伴随的健康权衡。我们将1938—1962年间所有主要燃煤电厂的新近数字化数据，与两种互补的双重差分策略相结合。燃煤电厂造成了巨大的负向健康外部性，但这些外部性被地方发电的收益部分抵消。健康影响因初始电力可及性不同而存在广泛差异，并随着样本期内发电装机容量存量的扩大而演变。这些发现凸显了在设计环境规制时，需同时考虑当前与未来收益的重要性。
Abstract
Abstract This paper examines the health tradeoffs associated with the historical expansion in coal-fired electricity generation in the United States. We combine newly digitized data on all major coal-fired power plants for the period 1938–1962 with two complementary difference-in-differences strategies. Coal-fired plants imposed large negative health externalities that were partially offset by the benefits of local electricity generation. The health impacts varied widely according to initial electricity access and evolved as the stock of generating capacity expanded over the sample period. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for both current and future payoffs when designing environmental regulation.