Clean Identification? The Effects of the Clean Air Act on Air Pollution, Exposure Disparities, and House Prices†

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sager, Lutz; Singer, Gregor
• 署名单位: ESSEC Business School; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20220745
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 1-36
• 关键词: regression discontinuity design; environmental-regulations; inference; matter

摘要

We assess the US 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 0.4 mu g/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, however, appear larger than previously thought when leveraging regulatory variation. (JEL D63, K32, Q52, Q53, Q58, R31)