Research
Job Market Paper
Toxic Recycling: The Cost of Used Lead-Acid Battery Processing in Mexico, with B Cecato, M Romero, and T Zárate Barrera (draft, Centre for Global Development blog coverage)
Abstract: There is no known safe level of lead pollution exposure. Many countries have taken steps in the last half century to remove lead from their environments, but, at times, these policies can cause pollution sources to shift to countries with weaker regulatory environments. Previous studies have theorized about and empirically documented this ‘pollution haven’ phenomenon, but few have examined the costs borne by recipient communities. In the setting we study, a 2009 tightening of environmental standards in the United States caused used lead-acid battery recycling, an industry that emits large amounts of lead pollution, to shift to Mexico. We estimate the effects of this increased industrial activity and associated pollution on student learning in recipient communities in Mexico. We use data from a nationwide test in Spanish and math, conducted from 2006 to 2013. We compare test scores before and after the 2009 U.S. policy change among students attending schools near and downwind of Mexican recycling facilities and those studying farther away. We estimate effects on test scores of negative 0.05-0.09 standard deviations, with effects being slightly stronger for math than Spanish. Comparing dynamic effects across grades, we find suggestive evidence that effects are stronger for students who were younger in 2009. We also compare effects across communities, showing that the costs to education are heavily concentrated in communities that were already worse off before the 2009 change in lead-acid battery recycling activity. The results of our study underline the importance of considering unintended consequences and cross-border spillovers when regulating toxic pollutants. The heterogeneity of effects across communities highlights the need for more research on the costs of lead pollution exposure in low- and middle-income countries, where the vast majority of exposure occurs today.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Gender Differences in Informal Labor Market Resilience. (2023). World Bank Economic Review, 37(1), 112-126, with M Hardy, J McCasland, and G Kagy. (DOI) (PEDL COVID-19 Policy Note)
Is energy the golden thread? A systematic review of the impacts of modern and traditional energy use in low- and middle-income countries. (2020). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 135, 11046, with M Jeuland, TR Fetter, Y Li, SK Pattanayak, F Usmani, and others. (DOI) (Policy brief)
Returns to rural electrification: Evidence From Bhutan. (2019). World Development, 121, 75-96, with SK Pattanayak and T Thinley. (DOI)
Why does industry structure matter for unconventional oil and gas development? Examining revenue sharing outcomes in North Dakota. (2018). Energy Research & Social Science, 44, 371-384, with K Neville, B Johnson-King, and E Weinthal. (DOI)
Book Chapters
Through the looking glass: Environmental health economics in low and middle income countries. (2018). Handbook of Environmental Economics, Volume 4, with SK Pattanayak and E Pakhtigian. (DOI)
Working Papers
Evaluating the impact of improved cookstoves on fuel and time-use outcomes in Eastern and Southern Africa, with S Pattanayak, M Jeuland, PP Krishnapriya, M Chandrasekaran, R McCord, and K Sonke (draft) (Ways & Means podcast)
Evaluating the impacts of cooking interventions in rural Senegal: The case of domestic biogas digesters, with O Ndiaye, M Jeuland, and J Ankel-Peters (draft)
Ongoing Projects
“Climate Change and Household Energy Transitions in Developing Countries.” Invited review for PLOSClimate, with V Menghwani, H Zerriffi, and others.
“Intra-household bargaining power over budgets: Evidence from four African Countries.” With S Pattanayak, M Jeuland, PP Krishnapriya, M Chandrasekaran, R McCord, and K Sonke.
“Electric cooking in the Energy Transition: How much Subsidization is Needed?” With A Nanyiti, A Damte Beyene, E Musembi, K Kigundu, M Maina, and N Kilimani.
“Piloting electric cooking appliances in Uganda.” With P Mwesiga, E Avila, J Baanabe, and N Naluwagga.
Other Publications
“Energizing health: accelerating electricity access in health-care facilities” [Contributing author], Geneva: World Health Organization, the World Bank, Sustainable Energy for All and the International Renewable Energy Agency; 2023. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240066960.
“Cooking Practices, Human Health, and the Environment: The Case of Mandena, Madagascar.” with LK Greene, L Guidera, and T Klug. In Energy and Development (pp. 43-52). Durham, NC: Glean Energy Access Network.