1. Pollution, Infectious Disease, and Mortality: Evidence from the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic
- Author
-
Clay, Karen, Lewis, Joshua, and Severnini, Edson R.
- Subjects
Economics and Econometrics ,History ,05 social sciences ,Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous) ,06 humanities and the arts ,pollution, infectious disease, mortality, 1918 influenza pandemic ,jel:N32 ,jel:I15 ,jel:N52 ,060105 history of science, technology & medicine ,jel:I18 ,jel:Q53 ,0502 economics and business ,jel:Q58 ,0601 history and archaeology ,jel:Q56 ,050207 economics - Abstract
This paper uses the 1918 influenza pandemic as a natural experiment to examine whether air pollution affects susceptibility to infectious disease. The empirical analysis combines the sharp timing of the pandemic with large cross-city differences in baseline pollution measures based on coal-fired electricity generating capacity for a sample 183 American cities. The findings suggest that air pollution exacerbated the impact of the pandemic. Proximity to World War I military bases and baseline city health conditions also contributed to pandemic severity. The effects of air pollution are quantitatively important. Had coal-fired capacity in above-median cities been reduced to the median level, 3,400-5,860 pandemic-related infant deaths and 15,575-23,686 pandemic-related all-age deaths would have been averted. These results highlight the complementarity between air pollution and infectious disease on health, and suggest that there may be large co-benefits associated with pollution abatement policies.
- Published
- 2018