Air pollution and health outcomes: Evidence from Black Saturday Bushfires in Australia

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Balasooriya, Namal N
Bandara, Jayatilleke S
Rohde, Nicholas
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2022
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of air pollution on Australian health outcomes, using the Black Saturday bushfires (BSB) in 2009 as a natural experiment. This event was one of the largest bushfires in Australian history and emitted approximately four million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. We use data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamic Australia (HILDA) panel and compare the health status of individuals who were living in affected and unaffected regions before and after the event. Using a triple differences procedure, we further examine whether a difference in vulnerability to bushfire smoke exists comparing people living in urban or regional areas. We find that ambient air pollution had significant negative effects on health and that the magnitudes were actually larger for individuals residing in urban areas.

Journal Title

Social Science & Medicine

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

306

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Health economics

Sociology

Economics

Health sciences

Human society

Science & Technology

Social Sciences

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

Social Sciences, Biomedical

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Balasooriya, NN; Bandara, JS; Rohde, N, Air pollution and health outcomes: Evidence from Black Saturday Bushfires in Australia, Social Science & Medicine, 2022, 306, pp. 115165

Collections