Pollution, Climate Change, and Health

Catalog description

In-depth discussion of the growing field of applied economics research on the relationships between pollution, climate, and human health. The course will be begin with a brief introduction to the application of modern applied microeconomic causal methods - students must have taken Multiple Regression Analysis (or a course equivalent) and have basic familiarity with the statistical analysis program Stata. Areas of study include pollution and climate impacts on mortality, morbidity, human capital development, productivity, and mental cognition, as well as the role of avoidance behavior and adaptation in mitigating such effects. This course requires a good deal of reading from academic journal articles and working papers. Discussion of the articles will focus on interpretation of outcomes, potential confounders and complications in establishing the pollution, climate, and health link, and the methodologies used in modern applied microeconomics to establish causal links. (HCP-EL)