Michael Greenstone and Environmental Economics

Author

Gang He

Published

March 11, 2025

Michael Greenstone

  • Professor in Economics at Univeristy of Chicago
  • Director of the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC)

Effects of Air Pollution

  • 1-percent reduction in TSPs results in a 0.35 percent decline in the infant mortality rate at the county level

  • 2500 fewer infants died from 1980–1982 recession than would have in the absence of the TSPs reductions

  • (Chay and Greenstone 2003)

Effects of Climate Change

  • By the end of the century climate change will lead to increases of 3 percent in the age-adjusted mortality rate and 11 percent in annual residential energy consumption.

  • (Deschênes and Greenstone 2011)

Thoughts for Evaluation

  • Economic shock and natural experience
  • Make use of regulatory and climate data
  • Communication for policy change

References

Chay, Kenneth Y., and Michael Greenstone. 2003. “The Impact of Air Pollution on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Geographic Variation in Pollution Shocks Induced by a Recession*.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 118 (3): 1121–67. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530360698513.
Deschênes, Olivier, and Michael Greenstone. 2011. “Climate Change, Mortality, and Adaptation: Evidence from Annual Fluctuations in Weather in the US.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3 (4): 152–85. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.3.4.152.