Multigenerational Persistence of Environmental Exposure

随着时间的推移，美国的空气质量已经大大改善，但仍然存在一种系统性的模式，即污染最严重的社区是少数民族或低收入社区。 这种不同的污染暴露从一代延续到另一代。 利用40年来个人层面的数据和现代经济理论，该项目将：用文件证明在暴露于空气污染方面持续存在种族差距，审查社会经济处境不利人口不成比例的暴露是否以及在多大程度上跨代传递，并分析污染暴露的代际差异的来源，以及这些差异如何影响成年经济决策中的种族差异，结果。此外，该研究还将收集那些生活在污染社区的人的口述历史，以记录他们的经历。 这项研究的结果将为公共政策提供信息，并为贫困社区面临的低环境质量陷阱提出一条出路。 该研究项目的结果也将为环境政策提供重要的投入，从而改善美国公民的健康，特别是那些处于社会经济阶梯低端的人。该项目扩展了典型的空间排序模型，以研究所观察到的种族暴露于环境污染的代际持久性差异。 作为理论和实证分析的延伸，该项目将收集非裔美国人社区中有环境污染领域生活经历的人们的口述历史，以及这些经历如何影响他们的生活。 该项目的这一部分将在与1982年北卡罗来纳州多氯联苯抗议有关的14个北卡罗来纳州县实施。PI将定性分析这些口述历史，以告知模型的经验规范，以及激励替代政策模拟。该项目有助于代际流动的广泛文献，因为一些经济和流行病学研究表明，污染暴露的增加可以转化为健康，教育，并最终收入不平等。 该研究项目的成果将为环境政策提供重要的投入，从而改善美国公民的健康，特别是那些处于社会经济阶梯低端的人。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.