Ambiguous Air Pollution Effects of China's COVID-19 Lock-Down
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111,
May 2021
(pp. 376-80)
Abstract
Reductions in ambient pollution have been suggested as a "silver lining" to the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze China's pollution monitor data and account for the large annual improvements in air quality following the Lunar New Year, which essentially coincided with lock-downs. With the exception of nitrogen dioxide, China's air quality improvements in 2020 are smaller than we should expect near the pandemic's epicenter, Hubei province. We see smaller improvements in sulfur dioxide than expected, while ozone concentrations roughly doubled in Hubei. Similar patterns are found for the six provinces neighboring Hubei. We conclude that COVID-19 had ambiguous impacts on China's air quality.Citation
Almond, Douglas, Xinming Du, Valerie J. Karplus, and Shuang Zhang. 2021. "Ambiguous Air Pollution Effects of China's COVID-19 Lock-Down." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111: 376-80. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211032Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
- I12 Health Behavior
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- I15 Health and Economic Development
- P28 Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Natural Resources; Energy; Environment