Environmental Health Risks and Housing Values: Evidence from 1,600 Toxic Plant Openings and Closings
- (pp. 678-709)
Abstract
Regulatory oversight of toxic emissions from industrial plants and understanding about these emissions' impacts are in their infancy. Applying a research design based on the openings and closings of 1,600 industrial plants to rich data on housing markets and infant health, we find that: toxic air emissions affect air quality only within 1 mile of the plant; plant openings lead to 11 percent declines in housing values within 0.5 mile or a loss of about $4.25 million for these households; and a plant's operation is associated with a roughly 3 percent increase in the probability of low birthweight within 1 mile. (JEL I12, L60, Q52, Q53, Q58, R23, R31)Citation
Currie, Janet, Lucas Davis, Michael Greenstone, and Reed Walker. 2015. "Environmental Health Risks and Housing Values: Evidence from 1,600 Toxic Plant Openings and Closings." American Economic Review, 105 (2): 678-709. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20121656Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- L60 Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General
- Q52 Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
- Q58 Environmental Economics: Government Policy
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
- R31 Housing Supply and Markets