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This paper estimates the mortality impacts of ozone pollution in China and the moderating effects of two possible adaptation strategies. Using an instrument variable constructed from ozone concentrations of nearby upwind cities, we find that ozone pollution significantly increases all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality. Healthcare service provision significantly decreases the impacts of ozone pollution on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, but does not moderate the impact on respiratory mortality. The impact of ozone on RES mortality declines after COVID-19. Healthcare service provision also reduces the distributional impact of ozone across the elderly and younger groups. Projection shows that climate change would induce mortality costs of 0.08% of China's GDP through increasing ozone pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to COVID-19, many U.S. states implemented stay-at-home orders to mitigate disease spread, causing radical changes across all facets of consumer behavior. In this paper, we explore how a stay-at-home (SAH) order impacted one aspect of behavior: the demand for water. Using a unique panel dataset of property-level water usage in Henderson, Nevada, we analyze changes in water usage from the SAH order, finding an initial and continuous decline in average daily usage for commercial and school users. In contrast, we find an initial increase in consumption by residential users with this effect increasing over time. Aggregated across all users, the SAH order led to an increase in net water usage between 32 and 59 million gallons over the first 30 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impacts of COVID-19 safer-at-home polices on collisions and pollution. We find that statewide safer-at-home policies lead to a 20% reduction in vehicular collisions and that the effect is entirely driven by less severe collisions. For pollution, we find particulate matter concentration levels approximately 1.5 μ g/m3 lower during the period of a safer-at-home order, representing a 25% reduction. We document a similar reduction in air pollution following the implementation of similar policies in Europe. We calculate that as of the end of June 2020, the benefits from avoided car collisions in the U.S. were approximately $16 billion while the benefits from reduced air pollution could be as high as $13 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the implementation of stay-at-home (SAH) orders aimed to mitigate its spread, households became less mobile and sheltered in place. This behavior has potential implications for how households' value environmental (dis)amenities, especially those that are underutilized during the pandemic. In this paper, we explore changes in the valuation of two prominent environmental (dis)amenities – major roadway and open space proximity – by households within the Baltimore metropolitan region. We find evidence that the housing price capitalization of immediate major roadway proximity changes due to the SAH order and associated policies that impact economic activity, suggesting a shift in household perceptions, while there is no evidence of open space valuation changes. These results may have significant implications for homeowner welfare if the altered capitalization of environmental (dis)amenities is temporary due to the SAH order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]