American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Killing Prescriptions Softly: Low Emission Zones and Child Health from Birth to School
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 16,
no. 2, May 2024
(pp. 220–48)
Abstract
We examine the persistence of the impact of early-life exposure to air pollution on children's health from birth to school enrollment using administrative public health insurance records covering one-third of all children in Germany. For identification, we exploit air quality improvements caused by Low Emission Zones, a policy imposing driving restrictions on emission-intensive vehicles. Our results indicate that children exposed to cleaner air in utero and their first year of life require less medication for at least five years. The initially latent health response materializes only gradually, leaving important but subtle health benefits undetected in common measures of infant health.Citation
Klauber, Hannah, Felix Holub, Nicolas Koch, Nico Pestel, Nolan Ritter, and Alexander Rohlf. 2024. "Killing Prescriptions Softly: Low Emission Zones and Child Health from Birth to School." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 16 (2): 220–48. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210729Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- Q51 Valuation of Environmental Effects
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
- R48 Transportation Economics: Government Pricing and Policy