Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13603
Authors: Janjala Chirakijja; Seema Jayachandran; Pinchuan Ong
Abstract: This paper examines how the price of home heating affects mortality in the US. Exposure to cold is one reason that mortality peaks in winter, and a higher heating price increases exposure to cold by reducing heating use. It also raises energy bills, which could affect health by decreasing other health-promoting spending. Our empirical approach combines spatial variation in the energy source used for home heating and temporal variation in the national prices of natural gas versus electricity. We find that a lower heating price reduces winter mortality, driven mostly by cardiovascular and respiratory causes.
Keywords: weather-related mortality; winter mortality; energy prices; energy poverty; fuel poverty
JEL Codes: I1; J14; Q41
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher heating prices (Q41) | reduced heating use (Q41) |
| reduced heating use (Q41) | increased exposure to cold temperatures (I14) |
| increased exposure to cold temperatures (I14) | increased mortality risk (I12) |
| decline in natural gas prices (Q31) | 11,000 winter deaths averted annually (I12) |
| lower heating price (Q41) | reduced winter mortality (I14) |
| lower heating prices (Q41) | reduced mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory causes (I12) |
| 1% increase in heating prices (Q41) | 0.057% increase in winter mortality (I14) |