Multigenerational Persistence of Environmental Exposure

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Air quality in the United States has improved substantially over time, yet there remains a systematic pattern where the most polluted neighborhoods are racial minority or low-income neighborhoods. This differential exposure to pollution persists from one generation to another. Using four decades of individual-level data and modern economic theory, this project will: document the persistence of racial gaps in exposure to air pollution, examine whether and to what extent the disproportionate exposure of socio-economically disadvantaged populations transmits across generations, and analyze the sources of this intergenerational differences in pollution exposure and how these differences affect racial differences in adulthood economic decisions and outcomes. In addition, the study will also collect oral histories from those who have lived in polluted neighborhoods to document their experiences. The results of this study will inform public policy and suggest a way out of the low environmental quality trap that underprivileged communities face. The results of this research project will also provide important inputs into environmental policy generally, thus improving the health of U.S. citizens, especially those at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.This project extends the canonical spatial sorting model to study the observed intergenerational persistence of differences in racial exposure to environment pollution. As an extension of the theoretical and empirical analysis, the project will collect oral history of people in African American communities with lived experiences in areas of environmental pollution and how these experiences have affected their lives. This part of the project will be implemented in 14 North Carolina counties that are associated with the 1982 North Carolina Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Protest. The PIs will qualitatively analyze these oral histories to inform the empirical specification of the model as well as to motivate alternative policy simulations. This project contributes to the extensive literature on intergenerational mobility, as several economic and epidemiological studies have suggested that elevated pollution exposure can translate into health, educational, and eventually income inequality. The results of this research project will provide important inputs into environmental policy, thus improving the health of U.S. citizens, especially those at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.