Working Paper: NBER ID: w19571
Authors: Janet Currie; Joshua S. Graff Zivin; Jamie Mullins; Matthew J. Neidell
Abstract: Pollution exposure early in life is detrimental to near-term health and an increasing body of evidence suggests that early childhood health influences health and human capital outcomes later in life. This paper reviews the economic research that brings these two literatures together. We begin with a conceptual model that highlights the core relationships across the lifecycle. We then review the literature concerned with such estimates, focusing particularly on identification strategies to mitigate concerns regarding endogenous exposure. The nascent empirical literature provides both direct and indirect evidence that early childhood exposure to pollution significantly impacts later life outcomes. We discuss the potential policy implications of these long-lasting effects, and conclude with a number of promising avenues for future research.
Keywords: pollution; early life exposure; human capital; health outcomes; environmental regulation
JEL Codes: I1; I12; J24; Q5; Q53
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| early childhood exposure to pollution (Q53) | later life health outcomes (I12) |
| early childhood exposure to pollution (Q53) | cognitive development (O11) |
| early childhood exposure to pollution (Q53) | human capital accumulation (J24) |
| human capital accumulation (J24) | later life health outcomes (I12) |
| early childhood exposure to pollution (Q53) | long-term health deficits (I12) |
| avoidance behavior (D91) | measurement of pollution's biological effects (Q52) |
| estimates accounting for avoidance behavior (D91) | direct impact of pollution (Q53) |
| estimates not accounting for avoidance behavior (D91) | reduced-form effect of pollution (Q52) |