The grandkids aren't alright: the intergenerational effects of prenatal pollution exposure

Colmer, Jonathan and Voorheis, John (2020) The grandkids aren't alright: the intergenerational effects of prenatal pollution exposure. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP1733). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Using newly linked survey and administrative data, providing more than 150 million parent-child links, we show that regulation-induced improvements in early life air quality have intergenerational effects on human capital accumulation in the United States - the second-generation is more likely to attend college. Supporting evidence indicates that intergenerational transmission arises from greater parental resources and investments, rather than heritable channels. Our findings suggest that within-generation estimates of marginal damages substantially underestimate the total welfare effects of improving environmental quality.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
JEL classification:	H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H23 - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q53 - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General > J00 - General
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2021 14:42
Last Modified:	11 Sep 2025 05:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/108495

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