Every Day Is Earth Day: Evidence on the Long-Term Impact of Environmental Activism
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics · 2022 · Daniel Hungerman、Vivek S. Moorthy
中文摘要
我们利用天气的变化来研究1970年首次地球日期间的行动主义对态度、环境结果和儿童健康的长期影响。1970年4月22日异常恶劣的天气与10至20年后对环境的支持减弱相关，尤其是在1970年处于学龄阶段的人群中。地球日当天的恶劣天气还与空气中更高水平的一氧化碳以及随后数十年间出生婴儿患先天性异常的更大风险相关。这些结果识别了志愿活动的收益，而这些收益在志愿活动发生数年之后才可能被识别出来。(JEL D64, D91, Q51, Q53, Q54)
Abstract
We use variation in weather to study the long-term effects of activism during the original Earth Day on attitudes, environmental outcomes, and children’s health. Unusually bad weather on April 22, 1970 is associated with weaker support for the environment 10 to 20 years later, particularly among those who were school aged in 1970. Bad weather on Earth Day is also associated with higher levels of carbon monoxide in the air and greater risk of congenital abnormalities in infants born in the following decades. These results identify benefits to volunteer activity that would be impossible to identify until years after the volunteering occurs. (JEL D64, D91, Q51, Q53, Q54)