scholarly journals Air Pollution and Post-COVID-19 Work Resumption: Evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Local Weather ◽  
Work Resumption

Abstract To cope with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), national or subnational regions have carried out anti-pandemic measures such as locking down, which may improve their air quality. This paper examines the relation between air pollution and work resumption from a novel post-pandemic perspective. Using unique data on detailed industrial electricity consumption in China, this paper doesn't find a positive relation between post-COVID-19 work resumption and air pollution during the early-stage recovery. This result is obtained after controlling for province and date fixed effects, as well as local weather conditions. However, the positive relation is found for a particular subsample of large industrial enterprises and April. This finding indicates that large industrial enterprises may recover first, and the resumption is progressing gradually. Finally, several policy implications are provided, which are essentially helpful for other countries’ post-pandemic recovery.

scholarly journals Experiencing climate change: revisiting the role of local weather in affecting climate change awareness and related policy preferences

2021 ◽  
Vol 167 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Gärtner ◽  
Harald Schoen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Local Weather

AbstractOver the last few years, climate change has risen to the top of the agenda in many Western democracies, backed by a growing share of voters supporting climate protection policies. To understand how and why these changes came about, we revisit the question whether personal experiences with increasingly unusual local weather conditions affect people’s beliefs about climate change and their related attitudes. We first take a closer look at the theoretical underpinnings and extend the theoretical argument to account for the differential impact of different weather phenomena, as well as the role of prior beliefs and individual reference frames. Applying mixed-effects regressions to a novel dataset combining individual-level multi-wave panel survey data from up to 18,010 German voters collected from 2016 to 2019 with weather data from 514 weather stations, we show that personally experiencing unusual or extreme local weather did not shape people’s awareness of climate change as a political problem or their climate policy preferences in a sustained manner. Even among people who may be considered most likely to exhibit such effects, we did not detect them. Moreover, we demonstrate that the common modeling strategy of combining fixed-effects regression with clustered standard errors leads to severely reduced standard errors and substantively different results. We conclude that it cannot be taken for granted that personally experiencing extreme weather phenomena makes a difference in perceptions of climate change and related policy preferences.

Pollution and Performance: Do Investors Make Worse Trades on Hazy Days?

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 4455-4476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiekun Huang ◽  
Nianhang Xu ◽  
Honghai Yu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Trading Behavior ◽  
Trade Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Stock Market Investors

This paper examines the relation between air pollution and individual investors’ trading behavior and performance. Using unique data on stock trades by 87,504 individuals from 34 cities in China, we find a negative relation between air pollution and trade performance. This result is obtained after controlling for investor-year fixed effects and date fixed effects, as well as local weather conditions. More strikingly, abnormal trade performance decreases monotonically with the levels indicating the severity of air pollution. Furthermore, we find evidence suggesting that air pollution makes investors more susceptible to the disposition effect and attention-driven buying behavior. Overall, the results highlight a hitherto-unexplored cost that ambient air pollution imposes on stock market investors. This paper was accepted by Tylor Shumway, finance.

scholarly journals What variables can better predict the number of infections and deaths worldwide by SARS-CoV-2? Variation through time

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. García de Alcañíz ◽  
J. Romero-López ◽  
R. P. Martínez-Esteban ◽  
V. López-Rodas ◽  
E. Costas
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
Large Hospital ◽  
Predictive Variables ◽  
Cumulative Data ◽  
Travel Restrictions

ABSTRACTUsing data from 50 very different countries (which represent nearly 70% of world’s population) and by means of a regression analysis, we studied the predictive power of different variables (mobility, air pollution, health & research, economic and social & geographic indicators) over the number of infected and dead by SARS-CoV-2. We also studied if the predictive power of these variables changed during a 4 months period (March, April, May and June). We approached data in two different ways, cumulative data and non-cumulative data.The number of deaths by Covid-19 can always be predicted with great accuracy from the number of infected, regardless of the characteristics of the country. Inbound tourism emerged as the variable that best predicts the number of infected (and, consequently, the number of deaths) happening in the different countries. Electricity consumption and air pollution of a country (CO2 emissions, nitrous oxide and methane) are also capable of predicting, with great precision, the number of infections and deaths from Covid-19. Characteristics such as the area and population of a country can also predict, although to a lesser extent, the number of infected and dead. All predictive variables remained significant through time.In contrast, a series of variables, which in principle would seem to have a greater influence on the evolution of Covid-19 (hospital bed density, Physicians per 1000 people, Researches in R & D, urban population…), turned out to have very little - or none-predictive power.Our results explain why countries that opted for travel restrictions and social withdrawal policies at a very early stage of the pandemic outbreak, obtained better results. Preventive policies proved to be the key, rather than having large hospital and medical resources.

scholarly journals Teleworking Effect on Traffic and Air Pollution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleftherios Giovanis
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Traffic Volume ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Promising Tool

Traffic congestion is one of the foremost problems confronted by the urban and suburban tenants of today. Traffic congestion increases vehicle emissions and degrades air quality.  Urban planners and policy makers have consequently been always investigating choices to alleviate traffic congestion and to enhance air quality. Teleworking is one option that has received significant consideration and has been studied in the recent past. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between teleworking, air quality and traffic in Switzerland. The analysis relies on panel individual and household level data over the period 2002-2013. We examine five main air pollutants; the sulphur dioxide (SO2), the ground-level ozone (O3) the nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the carbon monoxide (CO) and the particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10).  Based on the fixed effects estimates, teleworking reduces traffic volume by 1.9 per cent. Furthermore, the reduction observed on air pollution is higher for NO2, CO and PM10 ranging between 3.3-3.7 per cent, followed by O3 at 2.3 per cent and SO2 at 2.1 per cent. According to instrumental variable (IV) approach and the two stage least squares (2SLS) method, the effect is higher ranging between 2.6-4.1 per cent. The respective reduction on traffic becomes 2.7 per cent. Overall, the main concluding remark of the study is that teleworking can be a promising tool for urban planning and development, focusing at the traffic volume reduction, and the air quality improvement. Additional policy implications of teleworking and its beneficial effects for the society are further discussed.

scholarly journals COVID-19 uncertainty and sleep: the roles of perceived stress and intolerance of uncertainty during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Wu ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
Daniel L. Hall ◽  
Guihua Jiao ◽  
Lixin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Path Analysis ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Intolerance Of Uncertainty ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic brings unprecedented uncertainty and stress. This study aimed to characterize general sleep status among Chinese residents during the early stage of the outbreak and to explore the network relationship among COVID-19 uncertainty, intolerance of uncertainty, perceived stress, and sleep status. Methods A cross-sectional correlational survey was conducted online. A total of 2534 Chinese residents were surveyed from 30 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions of China and regions abroad during the period from February 7 to 14, 2020, the third week of lockdown. Final valid data from 2215 participants were analyzed. Self-report measures assessed uncertainty about COVID-19, intolerance of uncertainty, perceived stress, and general sleep status. Serial mediation analysis using the bootstrapping method and path analysis were applied to test the mediation role of intolerance of uncertainty and perceived stress in the relationship between uncertainty about COVID-19 and sleep status. Results The total score of sleep status was 4.82 (SD = 2.72). Age, place of residence, ethnicity, marital status, infection, and quarantine status were all significantly associated with general sleep status. Approximately half of participants (47.1%) reported going to bed after 12:00 am, 23.0% took 30 min or longer to fall asleep, and 30.3% slept a total of 7 h or less. Higher uncertainty about COVID-19 was significantly positively correlated with higher intolerance of uncertainty (r = 0.506, p < 0.001). The mediation analysis found a mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between COVID-19 uncertainty and general sleep status (β = 0.015, 95%C.I. = 0.009–0.021). However, IU was not a significant mediator of the relationship between COVID-19 uncertainty and sleep (β = 0.009, 95%C.I. = − 0.002–0.020). Moreover, results from the path analysis further showed uncertainty about COVID-19 had a weak direct effect on poor sleep (β = 0.043, p < 0.05); however, there was a robust indirect effect on poor sleep through intolerance of uncertainty and perceived stress. Conclusions These findings suggest that intolerance of uncertainty and perceived stress are critical factors in the relationship between COVID-19 uncertainty and sleep outcomes. Results are discussed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and practical policy implications are also provided.

scholarly journals Exploring Inner-City Residents’ and Foreigners’ Commitment to Improving Air Pollution: Evidence from a Field Survey in Hanoi, Vietnam

Data ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Quan-Hoang Vuong ◽  
Tri Vu Phu ◽  
Tuyet-Anh T. Le ◽  
Quy Van Khuc
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Inner City ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Demographic Information ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Valuation Method

Solutions for mitigating and reducing environmental pollution are important priorities for many developed and developing countries. This study was conducted to better understand the degree to which inner-city citizens and foreigners perceive air pollution and respond to it, particularly how much they willingly contribute to improving air quality in Vietnam, a lower-middle-income nation in Southeast Asia. During mid-December 2019, a stratified random sampling technique and a contingent valuation method (CVM) were employed to survey 199 inhabitants and 75 foreigners who reside and travel within the inner-city of Hanoi. The data comprises four major groups of information on: (1) perception of air pollution and its impacts, (2) preventive measures used to mitigate polluted air, (3) commitments on willingness-to-pay (WTP) for reducing air pollution alongside reasons for the yes-or-no-WTP decision, and (4) demographic information of interviewees. The findings and data of this study could offer many policy implications for better environmental management in the study area and beyond.

Robust Environmental Sensing Using UAVs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ahmed Boubrima ◽  
Edward W. Knightly
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Gas Sensors ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Mission Planning ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Compound Pollution ◽  
Planning Algorithm

In this article, we first investigate the quality of aerial air pollution measurements and characterize the main error sources of drone-mounted gas sensors. To that end, we build ASTRO+, an aerial-ground pollution monitoring platform, and use it to collect a comprehensive dataset of both aerial and reference air pollution measurements. We show that the dynamic airflow caused by drones affects temperature and humidity levels of the ambient air, which then affect the measurement quality of gas sensors. Then, in the second part of this article, we leverage the effects of weather conditions on pollution measurements’ quality in order to design an unmanned aerial vehicle mission planning algorithm that adapts the trajectory of the drones while taking into account the quality of aerial measurements. We evaluate our mission planning approach based on a Volatile Organic Compound pollution dataset and show a high-performance improvement that is maintained even when pollution dynamics are high.

scholarly journals Temperature Effects on Electricity and Gas Consumption: Empirical Evidence from Mexico and Projections under Future Climate Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
W.J. Wouter Botzen ◽  
Tim Nees ◽  
Francisco Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Linear Relationships ◽  
Gas Consumption

Fixed effects panel models are used to estimate how the electricity and gas consumption of various sectors and residents relate to temperature in Mexico, while controlling for the effects of income, manufacturing output per capita, electricity and gas prices and household size. We find non-linear relationships between energy consumption and temperature, which are heterogeneous per state. Electricity consumption increases with temperature, and this effect is stronger in warm states. Liquified petroleum gas consumption declines with temperature, and this effect is slightly stronger in cold states. Extrapolations of electricity and gas consumption under a high warming scenario reveal that electricity consumption by the end of the century for Mexico increases by 12%, while gas consumption declines with 10%, resulting in substantial net economic costs of 43 billion pesos per year. The increase in net energy consumption implies greater efforts to comply with the mitigation commitments of Mexico and requires a much faster energy transition and substantial improvements in energy efficiency. The results suggest that challenges posed by climate change also provide important opportunities for advancing social sustainability goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This study is part of Mexico’s Sixth National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

scholarly journals Zero Carbon Building Practices in Aotearoa New Zealand

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4455
Author(s):  
Thao Thi Phuong Bui ◽  
Suzanne Wilkinson ◽  
Niluka Domingo ◽  
Casimir MacGregor
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Zero Carbon

In the light of climate change, the drive for zero carbon buildings is known as one response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Within New Zealand, research on climate change mitigation and environmental impacts of buildings has received renewed attention. However, there has been no detailed investigation of zero carbon building practices. This paper undertakes an exploratory study through the use of semi-structured interviews with government representatives and construction industry experts to examine how the New Zealand construction industry plans and implements zero carbon buildings. The results show that New Zealand’s construction industry is in the early stage of transiting to a net-zero carbon built environment. Key actions to date are focused on devising a way for the industry to develop and deliver zero carbon building projects. Central and local governments play a leading role in driving zero carbon initiatives. Leading construction firms intend to maximise the carbon reduction in building projects by developing a roadmap to achieve the carbon target by 2050 and rethinking the way of designing and constructing buildings. The research results provide an insight into the initial practices and policy implications for the uptake of zero carbon buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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