Premium
PRESCRIBED BURNS, SMOKE EXPOSURE, AND INFANT HEALTH
Author(s) -
Jones Benjamin A.,
Berrens Robert P.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/coep.12509
Subject(s) - smoke , low birth weight , environmental health , medicine , birth weight , externality , pregnancy , economics , engineering , waste management , genetics , biology , microeconomics
Prescribed burning is used for reducing future wildfire risk; however, it creates smoke, which can affect human health. Using newly available high‐frequency daily data (2015–2017) on PM2.5 specifically attributed to smoke from prescribed burns in Georgia, USA, this analysis investigates infant health externalities connected to these burns. Cumulatively, over an average pregnancy, smoke from prescribed burns is associated with a 1.02 percentage point increase in instances of low birth weight and prematurity, each. For every $1 spent on prescribed burning, $0.43–$2.46 in state‐wide low birth weight and prematurity hospitalization costs are created. Various robustness and specification checks are performed. ( JEL Q23, Q53, Q51, I18, J13)