Willingness to Pay for Clean Air: Evidence from Air Purifier Markets in China

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ito, Koichiro; Zhang, Shuang
• 署名单位: University of Chicago; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/705554
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 1627-1672
• 关键词: SUSTAINED EXPOSURE; life expectancy; pollution; IMPACT; QUALITY; models; INFORMATION; mortality; BEHAVIOR; demand

摘要

We develop a framework to estimate willingness to pay for clean air from defensive investments on differentiated products. Applying this framework to scanner data on air purifier sales in China, we find that a household is willing to pay $1.34 annually to remove 1 mu g/m(3) of air pollution (PM10) and $32.7 annually to eliminate the pollution induced by the Huai River heating policy. Substantial heterogeneity is explained by income and exposure to information on air pollution. Using these estimates, we evaluate various environmental policies and quantify the value of recent air quality improvements since China declared a war on pollution in 2014.