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). 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 US Clean Air Act standards for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). Using high-resolution data, we find that the 2005 regulation reduced PM 2.5 levels by 0.4 μg/ m 3 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 PM 2.5 exposure disparities, but less than difference-in-differences suggest. Pollution damages capitalized into house prices, however, appear larger than previously thought when leveraging regulatory variation. (JEL D63, K32, Q52, Q53, Q58, R31).

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.202...
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:	21 Apr 2025 08:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121984

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