New IZA DPs -- Environment

[IZA Publications]

Dear Italo Gutierrez,

These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.

DP 18090 - Clay/Severnini/Wang:
The Hidden Toll of Airborne Lead: Infant Mortality Impacts of Industrial Lead Pollution
DP 18102 - Arenas-Arroyo/Fabian/Mengel/Schmidpeter/Serafinelli:
Demand for Green Skills in an Evolving Landscape
DP 18110 - Gries/Naudé:
Economics for a Safe Operating Space: A Green-Growth-Degrowth Model

Please find the abstracts and download links below.

You might also be interested in this IZA World of Labor content:
Employment effects of green energy policies

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IZA DP No. 18090

Karen Clay, Edson Severnini, Xiao Wang:

The Hidden Toll of Airborne Lead: Infant Mortality Impacts of Industrial Lead Pollution

Abstract:
This paper uses U.S. TRI data on industrial air lead emissions to provide IV estimates of the e?ects of air lead concentration on infant mortality. The causal e?ect of lead on infant mortality is identified by variation in air fugitive lead emissions interacted with wind speed near reporting plants, which together determine local ambient lead concentration. Unlike stack emissions, which occur routinely and may prompt avoidance behavior, fugitive emissions are intermittent and influenced by both historical and current factors, such as wind speed variation, making them di?cult to avoid. The paper has two main findings. First, higher air lead concentration causes higher infant mortality in the first month and in the first year, suggesting that both in utero and environmental exposures matter. Second, higher lead concentration increases deaths from low birthweight, sudden unexplained infant death, and respiratory and nervous system causes, which is consistent with findings from a nimal studies, even when accounting for behavioral responses. Back of the envelope calculations indicate that declines in industrial air lead emissions prevented 300+ infant deaths per year, generating benefits of $3.5+ billion annually in 2023 dollars.

https://docs.iza.org/dp18090.pdf

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IZA DP No. 18102

Esther Arenas-Arroyo, Jacob Fabian, Friederike Mengel, Bernhard Schmidpeter, Michel Serafinelli:

Demand for Green Skills in an Evolving Landscape

Abstract:
How does firms' skill demand change as the business landscape evolves? We present evidence from the green transition by analyzing how hurricanes impact demand for green skills. These disasters signal the risks of not acting on environmental issues. Using data from U.S. online job postings (2010--2019) and hurricane paths, we create a new measure of green job postings. Firms in areas affected by hurricanes are 6.4\% more likely to post jobs that require green skills after the event, particularly those serving local markets.

https://docs.iza.org/dp18102.pdf

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IZA DP No. 18110

Thomas Gries, Wim Naudé:

Economics for a Safe Operating Space: A Green-Growth-Degrowth Model

Abstract:
We present a model of economic growth that bridges Green Growth and Degrowth perspectives. The model demonstrates that a minimum physical per capita consumption level can be maintained without recourse to tech-optimism, and moreover with degrowth in material resource throughput - respecting planetary boundaries. We critically discuss the assumptions necessary for this result, explore relaxing these, and illustrate that eventually a full transition to renewable energy and materials will be needed to sustain consumption levels in a post-growth economy. We identify areas for future growth modelling, emphasising that these require genuine interdisciplinary cooperation.

https://docs.iza.org/dp18110.pdf

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[IZA Publications]