Pollution-induced trips: Evidence from flight and train bookings in China

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dai, Ruochen; Guo, Dongmei; Han, Yajie; Qin, Yu
• 署名单位: Central University of Finance & Economics; National University of Singapore
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103340
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: Air pollution; Travel flow; Avoidance behavior

摘要

Utilizing a novel database including nearly 2.2 billion booking records in China, we examine whether people escape from pollution by traveling to cleaner places. Combining an instrumental variable approach with high- dimensional fixed effects, we find a 50-unit increase in the AQI gap between a city pair leads to a 1.30% (1.33%) increase in train and airline ticket bookings from the origin to the destination city departing within one day (2-7 days). In addition, the destination of such pollution-induced trips is more likely to be an intra-province city with more tourist attractions. We also measure willingness to pay for clean air.