Evaluating the employment effects of environmental regulation without abatement cost data: A nonparametric cost function approach.

Environmental policymakers are concerned that environmental regulations reduce employment. A microeconomic analysis illustrates that environmental regulations have an uncertain effect on employment, making this an empirical question. A standard cost function model, used in the literature, requires a lot of data such as pollution abatement cost data to examine effects of environmental regulations on employment, but such survey data is not always available. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric cost function which alleviates the need for pollution abatement cost data. Our cost function, therefore, allows researchers and policy analysts to estimate employment changes associated with pollution abatement as well as measure the relative importance of other factors related to changes in employment with no pollution abatement cost data. Moreover, this is the first model using a cost function that incorporates the effect of structural change among industries within the economy on employment, which allows researchers to the examine how environmental regulations change the structure of the economy via a structural decomposition component. We illustrate how to operationalize our model using a balanced panel of industry-level data for 26 industries from 17 OECD countries (1995-2006). Our findings suggest that the change in employment due to regulatory induced increases in input costs exhibits both substantial variation among countries and substantial intra-country heterogeneity among industries.

Modelling the global economic costs of tobacco product waste.

Tobacco smoking continues to cause considerable premature mortality and morbidity worldwide. Most of the approximately six trillion cigarettes sold globally each year are discarded improperly as toxic environmental waste. Tobacco product waste, including cigarette butts, is the most commonly collected waste item worldwide. Of particular concern is the cellulose acetate filter, a poorly degradable plastic additive attached to most commercially manufactured cigarettes. This filter was introduced by the tobacco industry to reduce smokers' perception of harm and risk but it has no health benefit. To inform health policy and practice and improve public health outcomes, governments and society can benefit from cost estimates of preventing, properly disposing of and/or cleaning up tobacco product waste. Estimating the costs of tobacco product waste to communities and responsible authorities could encourage the development of health, environmental and fiscal policy interventions and shift accountability for the costs of tobacco product waste onto the global tobacco industry. To support health and environmental policy-making, we therefore propose an empirical approach to estimate the economic costs of tobacco product waste based on its negative environmental externalities. We first present general estimates for six representative countries and then identify data gaps that need to be addressed to develop global estimates. Interventions against tobacco product waste may be new channels to regulate tobacco products across sectors - for example, health, environment and finance - and consequently reduce overall tobacco use.

Le tabagisme continue à entraîner un taux de morbidité et de mortalité précoce considérable à travers le monde. La plupart des quelque six billions de cigarettes vendues chaque année à l'échelle planétaire ne sont pas correctement éliminées et deviennent une source de pollution environnementale toxique. Les déchets liés aux produits du tabac, notamment les mégots, sont les résidus les plus fréquemment collectés dans le monde. C'est surtout le filtre qui pose problème car il est composé d'acétate de cellulose, un additif plastique difficilement biodégradable que l'on retrouve dans la majorité des cigarettes commercialisées. Ce filtre a été introduit par l'industrie du tabac afin de donner aux fumeurs l'impression qu'ils courent moins de risques, alors qu'il n'a aucun effet bénéfique sur la santé. Les gouvernements et la société pourraient récolter les fruits d'une estimation des coûts engendrés par la prévention, l'élimination correcte et/ou le nettoyage des déchets liés aux produits du tabac, qui leur permettrait de mieux orienter les politiques et pratiques en la matière, mais aussi d'améliorer les résultats de santé publique. Estimer l'impact de ces déchets sur les communautés et les autorités compétentes pourrait encourager à adopter des mesures sanitaires, environnementales et fiscales, et pousser à responsabiliser davantage l'industrie mondiale du tabac vis-à-vis des coûts qu'ils entraînent. En vue de soutenir l'élaboration de politiques sanitaires et environnementales, nous proposons donc une approche empirique visant à déterminer les conséquences économiques des déchets générés par les produits du tabac en nous fondant sur l'influence néfaste qu'ils exercent sur l'environnement. Nous commençons par présenter des estimations globales pour six pays représentatifs, puis nous identifions les lacunes à combler dans les données afin de produire des estimations mondiales. Prendre des mesures de lutte contre ce type de déchets pourrait constituer un nouveau moyen de réglementer les produits du tabac dans différents secteurs comme la santé, l'environnement et les finances par exemple ­ et, par conséquent, faire diminuer la consommation de tabac en général.

El tabaquismo sigue causando una considerable tasa de mortalidad y morbilidad prematura en todo el mundo. La mayor parte de los casi seis billones de cigarrillos que se venden cada año en el mundo se desechan de forma inadecuada como residuos tóxicos para el medio ambiente. Los residuos de los productos del tabaco, incluidas las colillas, son los que más se recogen en todo el mundo. Un aspecto especialmente preocupante es el filtro de acetato de celulosa, un aditivo plástico poco degradable que se adhiere a la mayoría de los cigarrillos fabricados en el mercado. La industria del tabaco introdujo este filtro para reducir la percepción de daño y riesgo de los fumadores, pero no tiene ningún beneficio para la salud. A fin de fundamentar las políticas y prácticas sanitarias y mejorar los resultados en materia de salud pública, los gobiernos y la sociedad se pueden beneficiar de las estimaciones de costes de la prevención, la eliminación adecuada o la limpieza de los residuos de productos del tabaco. La estimación de los costes de los residuos de productos del tabaco para las comunidades y las autoridades responsables podría fomentar el desarrollo de intervenciones de política sanitaria, medioambiental y fiscal y trasladar la responsabilidad de los costes de los residuos de productos del tabaco a la industria del tabaco mundial. Para apoyar la elaboración de políticas sanitarias y medioambientales, se propone un enfoque empírico para estimar los costes económicos de los residuos de los productos del tabaco en función de sus consecuencias negativas para el medio ambiente. En primer lugar, se presentan estimaciones generales para seis países representativos y, a continuación, se identifican las deficiencias de información que se deben abordar para desarrollar estimaciones globales. Las intervenciones contra los residuos de productos del tabaco pueden constituir canales nuevos para regular los productos del tabaco en todos los sectores, por ejemplo, la salud, el medio ambiente y las finanzas, y, en consecuencia, reducir el consumo general de tabaco.

Does short-term, airborne lead exposure during pregnancy affect birth outcomes? Quasi-experimental evidence from NASCAR's deleading policy.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of a weak placental-fetal barrier to lead, suggesting that maternal lead exposure could affect the fetus. The health consequences for newborns from in utero lead exposure are not well understood. OBJECTIVES: We estimated the effects by trimester, of short-term (<1 week), airborne lead exposure during pregnancy on birth outcomes. METHODS: We use quasi-experimental variation in airborne lead exposure during pregnancy, based on NASCAR's deleading of racing fuel in 2007, in a difference-in-differences model, to estimate the effect of deleading on the birth outcomes of all live births (n = 147,673) in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area between 2004 and 2009. RESULTS: After deleading, children born to mothers residing <4000 m of Charlotte Motor Speedway (relative to those residing >10,000 m) experienced an average increase in birthweight (BW) of 102.50 g [P < 0.001]. The probability of low birthweight (LBW) declined by 0.045 [P = 0.001], preterm (PRE) births by 0.03 [P = 0.04], and small for gestational age (SGA) by 0.04 [P = 0.002]. We find that benefits accrue primarily in preterm LBW and SGA babies, and from decreased lead exposure in the first trimester. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term exposure to airborne lead during pregnancy adversely affects birth outcomes. Reducing even very brief exposure to airborne lead during pregnancy may improve birth outcomes.

Cardiovascular Mortality and Leaded Aviation Fuel: Evidence from Piston-Engine Air Traffic in North Carolina.

Leaded fuel used by piston-engine aircraft is the largest source of airborne lead emissions in the United States. Previous studies have found higher blood lead levels in children living near airports where leaded aviation fuel is used. However, little is known about the health effects on adults. This study is the first to examine the association between exposure to aircraft operations that use leaded aviation fuel and adult cardiovascular mortality. We estimated the association between annual piston-engine air traffic and cardiovascular mortality among adults age 65 and older near 40 North Carolina airports during 2000 to 2017. We used several strategies to minimize the potential for bias due to omitted variables and confounding from other health hazards at airports, including coarsened exact matching, location-specific intercepts, and adjustment for jet-engine and other air traffic that does not use leaded fuel. Our findings are mixed but suggestive of adverse effects. We found higher rates of cardiovascular mortality within a few kilometers downwind of single- and multi-runway airports, though these results are not always statistically significant. We also found significantly higher cardiovascular mortality rates within a few kilometers and downwind of single-runway airports in years with more piston-engine air traffic. We did not consistently find a statistically significant association between cardiovascular mortality rates and piston-engine air traffic near multi-runway airports, where there was greater uncertainty in our measure of the distance between populations and aviation exposures. These results suggest that (i) reducing lead emissions from aviation could yield health benefits for adults, and (ii) more refined data are needed to obtain more precise estimates of these benefits. Subject Areas: Toxic Substances, Health, Epidemiology, Air Pollution, Ambient Air Quality. JEL codes: Q53, I18.

Early childhood lead exposure and the persistence of educational consequences into adolescence.

BACKGROUND: There is consensus that early childhood lead exposure causes adverse cognitive and behavioral effects, even at blood lead levels (BLL) below 5 µg/dL. What has not been established is to what extent the effects of childhood lead exposure persist across grades. OBJECTIVE: To measure the effects of early childhood lead exposure (BLL 1-10 µg/dL) on educational performance from grades 3-8; to determine if effects in lower grades persist as a child progresses through school; and if so, to characterize the pattern of persistence. METHODS: We examine data from 560,624 children living in North Carolina between 2000 and 2012 with a BLL ≤10 µg/dL measured between age 0-5 years. Children are matched to their standardized math and reading scores for grades 3-8, creating an unbalanced panel of 2,344,358 student-year observations. We use socio-economic, demographic, and school information along with matching techniques to control for confounding effects. RESULTS: We find that early childhood exposure to low lead levels caused persistent deficits in educational performance across grades. In each grade (3-8), children with higher blood lead levels had, on average, lower percentile scores in both math and reading than children with lower blood lead levels. In our primary model, we find that children with BLL = 5 µg/dL in early childhood ranked 0.90-1.20 (1.35-1.55) percentiles lower than children with BLL ≤ 1 µg/dL on math (reading) tests during grades 3-8. As children progressed through school, the average percentile deficit in their test scores remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the adverse effects of early childhood exposure to low lead levels persist through early adolescence, and that the magnitude of the test-score percentile deficit remains steady between grades 3-8.

Pollution Abatement and Employment.

Morgenstern et al. (2002) is well-known for its investigation of the employment effects of environmental regulations. However, the cost function specified in that paper is handicapped by its reliance on survey data of the costs of inputs assigned to pollution abatement. In this paper, we specify an input distance function that models the joint production of good and bad outputs. This allows us to measure the relative importance of factors associated with changes in employment without pollution abatement cost data. We operationalize our model using a sample of 80 coal-fired electric power plants from 1995-2005.