Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences

In this paper we study the effects of three large, nearly-simultaneous coal-fired power plant closures on school absences in Chicago. We find that the closures resulted in a 6 percent reduction in absenteeism in nearby schools relative to those farther away following the closures. For the typical elementary school in our sample, this translates into around 363 fewer absence-days per year in the aggregate, or 0.66 fewer annual absences per student. To explore potential mechanisms responsible for these absence reductions, we investigate the effects of the closures on endogenous migration to neighborhoods near the plants (mediated through housing prices) and emergency department visits for asthma-related conditions among school-age children. We do not find strong evidence of endogenous migration into neighborhoods near the coal-fired power plants following the closures but do find declines in rates of emergency department visits in areas near the three plants. Given inequalities in exposure to operational coal-fired power plants and other large, industrial polluters, our findings suggest that transitions towards alternative energy sources could play an important role in addressing educational inequality.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Work Title Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Sarah Komisarow
  2. Emily L. Pakhtigian
Keyword
  1. Coal-fired power plants
  2. Children
  3. School absence
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Elsevier BV
Publication Date March 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102569
Source
  1. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Deposited June 15, 2022

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  • Created
  • Added Pollution_Draft_JEEM-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Sarah Komisarow
  • Added Creator Emily L. Pakhtigian
  • Published
  • Updated Work Title, Keyword Show Changes
    Work Title
    • Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences
    • ! Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences
    Keyword
    • Coal-fired power plants, Children, School absence
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • ! Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences
    • Are power plant closures a breath of fresh air? Local air pollution and school absences
  • Updated