Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn Recent documents in Matthew E Kahn en-us Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:07:44 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/7 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/7 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:17:38 PDT We find that veterans of the Union Army who faced greater wartime stress (as measured by higher battlefield mortality rates) experienced higher mortality rates at older ages, but that men who were from more cohesive companies were statistically significantly less likely to be affected by wartime stress. Our results hold for overall mortality, mortality from ischemic heart disease and stroke, and new diagnoses of arteriosclerosis. Our findings represent one of the first long-run health follow-ups of the interaction between stress and social networks in a human population in which both stress and social networks are arguably exogenous. Dora L. Costa http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/6 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/6 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:17:37 PDT This paper uses zip code level data to investigate the spatial distribution of two major "green" products. Using data from California, we document where hybrid vehicles cluster within the state. Using data for the entire nation, we study where LEED registered buildings cluster. By creating a novel measure of community environmentalism based on revealed preference political data, we document that green products cluster in environmentalist communities. Matthew E. Kahn Q4 Q5 R1 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/4 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/4 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:17:36 PDT Previous studies of trade and the environment overwhelmingly focus on how trade affects where goods are produced. However, trade also affects where goods are consumed. In this paper we describe a model of trade with durable goods and non‐homothetic preferences. In autarky, lowquality (used) goods are relatively inexpensive in high‐income countries and free trade causes these goods to be exported to low‐income countries. We then evaluate the environmental consequences of this pattern of trade using evidence from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since trade restrictions were eliminated for used cars in 2005, over 2.5 million used cars have been exported from the United States to Mexico. Using a unique, vehicle‐level dataset, we find that traded vehicles are dirtier than the stock of vehicles in the United States and cleaner than the stock in Mexico, so trade leads average vehicle emissions to decrease in both countries. Total greenhouse gas emissions increase, primarily because trade gives new life to vehicles that otherwise would have been scrapped. Lucas W. Davis http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/5 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/5 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:17:36 PDT Carbon dioxide emissions may create significant social harm because of global warming, yet American urban development tends to be in low density areas with very hot summers. In this paper, we attempt to quantify the carbon dioxide emissions associated with new construction in different locations across the country. We look at emissions from driving, public transit, home heating, and household electricity usage. We find that the lowest emissions areas are generally in California and that the highest emissions areas are in Texas and Oklahoma. There is a strong negative association between emissions and land use regulations. By restricting new development, the cleanest areas of the country would seem to be pushing new development towards places with higher emissions. Cities generally have significantly lower emissions than suburban areas, and the city-suburb gap is particularly large in older areas, like New York. Edward L. Glaeser http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/3 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/3 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:17:35 PDT Between 1950 and the year 2030, the share of the world's population who lives in cities is predicted to grow from 30% to 60%. This urbanization has consequences for the likelihood of climate change and for the social costs that climate change will impose on the world's quality of life. This paper examines how urbanization affects greenhouse gas production and it studies how urbanites in the developed and developing world will adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. Matthew E. Kahn http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/2 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/2 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:48:03 PST This paper examines the composition of bilateral manufacturing trade in terms of its pollution intensity. A growing share of world trade takes place between nations who are members of the same regional trade agreement (RTA). We analyze how the formation of RTAs affects the composition of trade. We focus on whether richer or poorer nations specialize in exporting dirty goods. Using bilateral trade data over the years 1980 to 1997 for 128 nations for 34 manufacturing industries, we document that low-, middle-, and high-income nations differ with respect to their income elasticity in exporting dirty goods. Outside of RTA blocs, we find general support for the pollution haven hypothesis. As a nation's income rises, its exports of dirty goods decrease relative to its exports of clean goods. When we compare, low-income, middle-income and high-income nations, we find that middle-income nations have the largest dirty trade income elasticity. Participation in a RTA slightly weakens the pollution haven effect observed outside of regional trading blocs. We also document cross-RTA heterogeneity in the composition of trade across 13 major RTAs in our sample. Matthew E. Kahn F18 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/1 http://works.bepress.com/matthew_kahn/1 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:48:01 PST Under communism, Eastern Europe's cities were significantly more polluted than their Western European counterparts. An unintended consequence of communism's decline is to improve urban environmental quality. This paper uses several new data sets to measure these gains. National level data are used to document the extent of convergence across nations in sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Based on a panel data set from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, ambient sulfur dioxide levels have fallen both because of composition and technique effects. The incidence of this local public good improvement is analyzed. Matthew E. Kahn P2 Q4 R0