AIR POLLUTION AND INFANT MORTALITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE EXPANSION OF NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE

Saturday, 11th of April 2015

AIR POLLUTION AND INFANT MORTALITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE EXPANSION OF NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE

Resul Cesur, Erdal Tekin, Aydogan Ulker

NBER Working Paper No. 18736
Issued in January 2013
NBER Program(s): CH DEV EEE HE

Full text is at http://www.nber.org/papers/w18736.pdf

Natural gas has emerged as an increasingly attractive source of energy since it is highly efficient, abundant, and cleaner than any other fossil fuel. In this paper, we examine the impact of widespread adoption of natural gas as a source of fuel on infant mortality in Turkey, using variation across provinces and over time in the intensity of natural gas utilization. Our estimates indicate that the expansion of natural gas infrastructure has resulted in a significant decrease in the rate of infant mortality. Specifically, a one-percentage point increase in natural gas intensity - measured by the rate of subscriptions to natural gas services - would cause the infant mortality rate to decrease by 3.9 percent, which would translate into approximately 340 infant lives saved in 2011 alone.

(283 K)

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