Clean identification? The effects of the clean air act on air pollution, exposure disparities and house prices

Sager, Lutz and Singer, Gregor ORCID: 0000-0001-5917-0723 (2025) Clean identification? The effects of the clean air act on air pollution, exposure disparities and house prices. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 17 (1). pp. 1-36. ISSN 1945-7731

Text (Clean Identification? The Effects of the Clean Air Act on Air Pollution, Exposure Disparities and House Prices) - Accepted Version Download (8MB)

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Abstract

We assess the U.S. Clean Air Act standards for fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅). Using high resolution data, we find that the 2005 regulation reduced PM₂.₅ levels by 0.4μg/m³ over five years, with larger effects in more polluted areas. Standard difference-in-differences overstates these effects by a factor of three because time trends differ by baseline pollution, a bias we overcome with three alternative approaches. We show that the regulation contributed to narrowing Urban-Rural and Black-White PM₂.₅ exposure disparities, but less than difference-in-differences suggest. Pollution damages capitalized into house prices, on the other hand, appear larger than previously thought when leveraging regulatory variation.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.202...
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Grantham Research Institute
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2024 16:06
Last Modified:	01 Mar 2025 04:22
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121984

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