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This paper finds that a 10-μg/m 3 increase in airborne particulate matter [particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM 10 )] reduces life expectancy by 0.64 years (95% confidence interval = 0.21-1.07). This estimate is derived from quasiexperimental variation in PM 10 generated by China's Huai River Policy, which provides free or heavily subsidized coal for indoor heating during the winter to cities north of the Huai River but not to those to the south. The findings are derived from a regression discontinuity design based on distance from the Huai River, and they are robust to using parametric and nonparametric estimation methods, different kernel types and bandwidth sizes, and adjustment for a rich set of demographic and behavioral covariates. Furthermore, the shorter lifespans are almost entirely caused by elevated rates of cardiorespiratory mortality, suggesting that PM 10 is the causal factor. The estimates imply that bringing all of China into compliance with its Class I standards for PM 10 would save 3.7 billion life-years., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

We examine the effect of air pollution on innovation activity by studying city-level patenting activities and air pollution index (API) in China. We use a novel quasi-natural experiment of China's Huai River policy, which provides subsidy for winter heating to cities north of the Huai River but not to cities to the south, to estimate the impact of air pollution on innovation performance. Based on spatial regression discontinuity design, we find that API is 0.145 higher in the north and the number of patents per city is 25.5% lower in the north. Further analysis shows that increases in API are associated with significant reduction in the number of patents per city, suggesting that air pollution significantly impedes innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]