Lint Barrage
ETH Zürich
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
12:10-1:30pm
241 Giannini Hall, UC Berkeley
“Equilibrium Particulate Exposure” joint with Matthew Turner and Lorenzo Aldeco
Abstract: How should we measure air quality benefits of environmental taxes? Taking a general equilibrium perspective, this paper argues that reductions in particulate emissions or concentrations are neither necessary nor sufficient to ensure reductions in population pollution exposure. First, using global spatially disaggregated panel data on ambient particulates and population, we show that countries’ changes in particulate exposure can be substantially larger or smaller than their changes in concentrations. Second, we develop a macroeconomic integrated assessment model of particulate exposure for 30 countries (representing 60% of world population) to evaluate the relevance of this point for policy. We find that both uncompensated oil taxes and agricultural burning levies may unintentionally increase exposure despite decreasing targeted activity emissions by shifting labor to dirtier sectors or locations. Third, however, we also find that income support can counteract these effects and greatly increase the environmental effectiveness of fossil energy taxes. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of considering exposure in environmental policy evaluations.