The health and visibility cost of air pollution: a comparison of estimation methods

Compiling and applying atmospheric resource balance sheet in off-office auditing of leading cadres in China

Atmospheric resources provide important support for human economic and social systems through their unique ecosystem service functions. Implementing the off-office auditing of atmospheric resources for leading cadres holds great strategic significance for fundamentally solve air pollution problems. Exploring the compilation of an atmospheric resource balance sheet is a necessary pre-step in the implementation of outgoing audits. In this paper, atmospheric resources are innovatively divided into atmospheric capacity resources and atmospheric quality resources from the perspective of the ecosystem service functions of atmospheric resources. The value of atmospheric resource assets is calculated by combining the environmental capacity value method and the environmental loss evaluation method. This study evaluates atmospheric ecological achievements based on the atmospheric resources balance sheet and related accounts as the data carrier and opens up the key "blocking point" of the off-office auditing of atmospheric resources. This paper takes Anhui Province as an example and applies the accounting results of the prepared atmospheric resource balance sheet to evaluate the atmospheric resource ecological achievements of leading cadres from 2016 to 2020. The results clearly reflect the ecological achievements and shortcomings of local leading cadres during their tenure.

Monetary valuation of air quality improvement with the stated preference technique: A multi-pollutant perspective

Air pollution is an important global issue, and governments are making efforts to reduce air pollutant emissions. The elaborate calculation of the social costs of air pollution is essential for justifying the substantial public expenditure on air pollution control policies. This study aims to derive the monetary value of reducing different kinds of air pollutants through the public's willingness to pay (WTP). A choice experiment survey is conducted to examine the public perception of air quality improvement, and the collected stated preference data are analysed with the hierarchical Bayesian logit model. The analysis results show that the public valuation of the emission reduction differs for individual pollutants. On average, the monetary value of one ton of emission reduction follows the order of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO_x, TSP, NO_x, and VOC. Based on the elicited WTP, the economic feasibility of the two air pollutant reduction plans of the South Korean Government is assessed. The benefit-to-cost ratio of the plans is 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, based on the mean WTP, indicating that they are not economically feasible at the moment. Implications for the efficient budget allocation of air pollution control policies are provided based on the results.

The effects of infrastructure development and carbon emissions on economic growth

Infrastructure is a basic physical structure that is essential for the facilitation of society in terms of the provision of the basic framework that is required for the economy's output. The transport infrastructure is one of the most promising tools for generating economic growth and development because of its constructive impact on multidimensional aspects of society. The carbon emissions emanating from different sectors are used to capture the environmental quality in Pakistan and its association with road infrastructure of the country. Transportation is the main source of carbon emissions (GHGs), and road transport is the biggest emitter that accounted for more than 70% of emissions from GHGs in 2014 in Pakistan. We have used fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) approaches to analyze the role of carbon emissions (aggregate and disaggregate forms) along with road infrastructure on economic growth for the period of 1972-2017. Moreover, before the main analysis, the co-integrating relationships are also analyzed in this study. Our findings pronounce that there is a positive observable relationship between road infrastructure and economic growth. However, the impact of carbon emissions (irrespective of aggregate or disaggregate forms) is negative on economic growth. The findings suggest that the improvements in economic growth can be achieved through road infrastructure structure development but at cost of deterioration of environmental quality (increase in carbon emissions). Although emissions diminish economic growth over time but on the other side, the economic incorporation increases through the investment in road infrastructure which is of assistance for the construction and manufacturing industry.

Application of Delphi method in screening of indexes for measuring soil pollution value evaluation

Soil pollution is one of the most important issues in environmental governance at present. Using scientific and reasonable methods to estimate the economic losses caused by soil pollution is the basis for maximizing the effectiveness of governance resources. This study combines the methods of mixed group discussion and literature analysis to establish preliminary soil pollution value loss measurement indicators. The Delphi method is used to modify, add, and delete indicators to obtain a set of feasible soil pollution value loss measurement indicator systems. It laid a method foundation for further quantifying the loss of soil pollution value and provided support to related government decisions such as land resource management and soil pollution control. The response coefficients of the two rounds of expert consultations were 81.2% and 77.8%; the degree of expert authority was 0.647 and 0.708; the coordination coefficients were 0.155 and 0.194; the final indicator system included three dimensions of economic, social, and environmental, a total of eight indicators. The experts in the soil pollution value loss measurement index system established in this study have unified final opinions and a good degree of coordination, which can be used to measure soil pollution value loss.

Avaliação econômica dos custos da poluição em Cubatão - SP com base nos gastos com saúde relacionados às doenças dos aparelhos respiratório e circulatório

O objetivo básico do trabalho foi avaliar os custos econômicos relacionados às doenças dos aparelhos respiratório e circulatório no município de Cubatão (SP). Para tanto, foram utilizados dados de internação e dias de trabalho perdidos com a internação (na faixa dos 14 aos 70 anos de idade), na base de dados do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Resultados: A partir dos dados levantados, calculou-se o valor total de R$ 22,1 milhões gastos no período de 2000 a 2009 devido às doenças dos aparelhos circulatório e respiratório. Parte desses gastos pode estar diretamente relacionada à emissão de poluentes atmosféricos no município. Para se estimar os custos da poluição foram levantados dados de outros dois municípios da Região da Baixada Santista (Guarujá e Peruíbe), com menor atividade industrial em comparação a Cubatão. Verificou-se que, em ambos, as médias de gastos per capita em relação às duas doenças são menores do que em Cubatão, mas que essa diferença vem diminuindo sensivelmente nos últimos anos.

Environmental effects on public health: an economic perspective

In this article we critically review the economic literature on the effects of environmental changes on public health, in both the developed and the developing world. We first focus on the economic methodologies that are available for the evaluation of the effects (social costs and benefits) of environmental changes (degradation/preservation) on public health. Then, we explain how the monetary valuations of these effects can feed back in the construction of economic policy for creating agent-specific incentives for more efficient public health management, which is also equitable and environmentally sustainable. Our exposition is accompanied by a synthesis of the available quantitative empirical results.

High gasoline prices and mortality from motor vehicle crashes and air pollution

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the effects of increasing gas prices on mortality.

METHOD

We developed a simulation-based partial equilibrium model that estimated the public health effects of a 20% rise in gas prices. Estimates on price elasticity for gasoline, price elasticity of motor vehicle crashes, relations among gasoline use, air pollution, and mortality were drawn from literature in economics, epidemiology, and medicine.

RESULTS

For sustained 20% increases in gasoline prices over 1 year, and assuming other prices and factors were constant, we estimated: 1994 (range, 997 to 4984) fewer deaths from vehicle crashes and 600 (range, 300 to 1500) fewer deaths from air pollution. Combining both, we estimated 2594 fewer deaths. A Monte Carlo simulation involving varying assumptions on elasticities and relations indicated that 95% of the combined reduction in deaths was between 1747 and 3714.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that high gas prices have public health implications.

Societal costs of air pollution-related health hazards: A review of methods and results

This paper aims to provide a critical and systematic review of the societal costs of air pollution-related ill health (CAP), to explore methodological issues that may be important when assessing or comparing CAP across countries and to suggest ways in which future CAP studies can be made more useful for policy analysis. The methodology includes a systematic search based on the major electronic databases and the websites of a number of major international organizations. Studies are categorized by origin - OECD countries or non-OECD countries - and by publication status. Seventeen studies are included, eight from OECD countries and nine from non-OECD countries. A number of studies based on the ExternE methodology and the USA studies conducted by the Institute of Transportation are also summarized and discussed separately. The present review shows that considerable societal costs are attributable to air pollution-related health hazards. Nevertheless, given the variations in the methodologies used to calculate the estimated costs (e.g. cost estimation methods and cost components included), and inter-country differences in demographic composition and health care systems, it is difficult to compare CAP estimates across studies and countries. To increase awareness concerning the air pollution-related burden of disease, and to build links to health policy analyses, future research efforts should be directed towards theoretically sound and comprehensive CAP estimates with use of rich data. In particular, a more explicit approach should be followed to deal with uncertainties in the estimations. Along with monetary estimates, future research should also report all physical impacts and source-specific cost estimates, and should attempt to estimate 'avoidable cost' using alternative counterfactual scenarios.

Using a choice experiment to measure the environmental costs of air pollution impacts in Seoul

Air pollution, a by-product of economic growth, has been incurring extensive environmental costs in Seoul, Korea. Unfortunately, air pollution impacts are not treated as a commercial item, and thus it is difficult to measure the environmental costs arising from air pollution. There is an imminent need to find a way to measure air pollution impacts so that appropriate actions can be taken to control air pollution. Therefore, this study attempts to apply a choice experiment to quantifying the environmental costs of four air pollution impacts (mortality, morbidity, soiling damage, and poor visibility), using a specific case study of Seoul. We consider the trade-offs between price and attributes of air pollution impacts for selecting a preferred alternative and derive the marginal willingness to pay (WTP) estimate for each attribute. According to the results, the households' monthly WTP for a 10% reduction in the concentrations of major pollutants in Seoul was found to be approximately 5494 Korean won (USD 4.6) and the total annual WTP for the entire population of Seoul was about 203.4 billion Korean won (USD 169.5 million). This study is expected to provide policy-makers with useful information for evaluating and planning environmental policies relating specifically to air pollution.