Speaker：Shanjun Li （Associate Professor of Environmental and Energy Economics andSustainable Enterprise ， DysonSchool of Applied Economics and Management，Cornell University）
Description：Westudy the 2013 sea change in pollution information availability when Chinarolled out a national pollution monitoring network in three waves to disclosereal-time air quality in more than 300 cities. We document a surge in mediamention as well as citizens’ interest in pollution topics. We then show how short- and long-runavoidance behavior change with better information. First, we use detailedpoint-of-sale (POS) credit and debit card transaction data to show that highoutdoor pollution suppresses daily purchase trips, much more so when the publicgained access to information. Second, the spatial variation in pollution levelseither across cities or across communities within a city is better reflected inhousing prices post disclosure. Finally, we use national disease surveillance datato show that the correspondence between air pollution exposure and mortalityrate weakens post disclosure. The estimates from our analysis suggest that theinformation program has reduced premature deaths attributable to air pollutionexposure by nearly 9%.
Time: March 8, 2019（Friday）, 14：00-15：30
Venue: Shahe main teaching building building, room 402
