Working Papers
"Can Pollution Regulation Reduce Crime? Evidence from the U.S. Clean Air Act"
(Under Review at Journal of Environmental Economics and Management)
Abstract: Recent literature has found causal evidence that air pollution increases the prevalence of crime among exposed populations. I examine the impact of a 2005 EPA rule designed to reduce PM2.5 levels on homicide rates in the United States from 2000-2014. I use a modified difference-in-difference model with baseline controls to show that homicide rates around law enforcement agencies located in regulated counties fell by approximately 14.4% relative to those in unregulated counties. These results are robust to the the inclusion of a variety of controls and specifications. To explore the mechanism behind the main result, I show that PM2.5 levels increased homicide rates around agencies using nonattainment and its interaction as instruments. The 2005 rule led to reductions in PM2.5 around these agencies, suggesting that roughly 53% of the reduced-form reduction in homicide rates was due to nonattainment-induced decreases in PM2.5 levels.
(Under Review at Environmental and Resource Economics)
Abstract: I revisit the 2005 Clean Air Act PM2.5 rule in order to study the effect of PM2.5 nonattainment designations on all-cause all-age mortality in the United States from 2001-2014. Using interactions of wind direction and nonattainment as instruments, I find that Black counties experienced greater mortality effects from PM2.5 exposure compared to White counties. I also find that PM2.5 had a significant impact on mortality in low income counties, unlike high income counties. I use a modified difference-in-difference research design with controls for baseline trends in mortality rates and find that the 2005 rule reduced mortality rates by 1.5% in nonattainment counties compared to attainment counties. The results suggest that the 2005 PM2.5 rule slightly mitigated racial disparities in mortality, and exacerbated income disparities in mortality.
Work In Progress
“Air Pollution, Internal Migration and the U.S. Clean Air Act: Do People Move Away from Dirty Air?”
“Traffic and Air Pollution: Did the U.S. Clean Air Act Help Reduce Traffic Fatalities?”
“Wildfire Smoke and Affordable Housing: Who Bears the Burden of Air Pollution?"