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Dissertation
ESSAYS ON CAUSAL INFERENCE IN APPLIED ECONOMICS
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000003331
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/122363
Abstract
The dissertation includes three closely related research topics on the causal effect of air pollution on different economically important outcomes. The first paper evaluates the causal impact of acute air pollution on daily crime. To identify the accurate impact, first, we create a rich set of data by merging daily county data on crime, air pollution, and weather across the US. We then employ instrumental variables (IV) methods with local wind direction as the instrument for air pollution. We find a 0.21-0.31% increase in violent crimes for a 10% increase in daily particulate matter-2.5 (PM2.5) pollution. Policies reducing the daily average of PM2.5 by 10% across the US save the annual cost from violent crime by 907 million dollars. The results suggest higher discounting of future punishment as the potential mechanism link.
The second paper investigates if air pollution causes road accidents. Recent scientific evidence on air pollution causing impaired physical and mental functioning motivates the plausible link between air pollution and road safety. To estimate the causal link, we use spatially disaggregated data from the Los Angeles regions and use an IV approach with ocean and land air pressure difference as the instrument. Results suggest a 1% increase in the daily concentration of PM2.5 causally increases the road accident rate by 2.7354%. We show that the potential mechanism channel is behavioral and cognitive changes. We also establish a theoretical model to postulate the impact through this channel.
The third paper identifies the causal impact of ground-level ozone on corn yield. Agricultural productivity is widely considered an important factor for economic development. Using US weather data, this study estimates the causal impact of ozone on corn yield using wind direction as an instrument. Results show that a 1% increase in ground-level ozone causally decreases the yield of corn by 0.182%. These results suggest that emissions reductions in the US have been effective in improving crop yields and highlight the incremental benefits of further reductions.
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Details
- Title
- ESSAYS ON CAUSAL INFERENCE IN APPLIED ECONOMICS
- Creators
- Apar G C
- Contributors
- Benjamin Cowan (Advisor)Benjamin Cowan (Committee Member)Wesley Blundell (Advisor)Wesley Blundell (Committee Member)Ron Mittelhammer (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Economic Sciences, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 194
- Identifiers
- 99900652005301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation