Environmental Inequality in Germany – A Nation-wide Assessment of the Spatial Patterns Causing Environmental Inequality

环境不平等研究解决了环境污染在不同公民群体中是否分布不均的问题。虽然大量的研究记录了美国少数民族的不成比例的负担，但只有少数实证研究调查了德国的环境不平等问题，因此依赖于空间汇总数据或对环境污染的主观评估。这是一个需要注意的严重缺点。此外，美国先前的研究在环境不平等的驱动力方面得出了相当不确定的结果。一些研究强调选择性迁移过程，一些研究相当强调选择性选址过程，还有一些研究发现基础设施特征在形成少数民族不成比例的负担方面发挥了主要作用。鉴于长期高度接触有害环境污染的严重后果，这是第二个严重缺点。因此，本建议的主要目的是通过结合家庭一级的数据和德国工业环境污染的加强措施来缩小文献中的这些差距。具体来说，该项目的目标是：(1)通过使用家庭数据（而不是空间汇总数据）和工业空气污染的客观测量来评估德国的环境不平等程度；(2)使用地理编码面板数据来调查环境不平等的因果关系。为了实现这些目标，项目涉及到几个子目标。首先，我们的目标是通过对欧洲污染物释放和转移登记册（E-PRTR）应用增强的地理建模策略，对德国有毒污染的暴露进行准确估计。其次，我们将这些暴露估计与汇总的社区特征以及家庭层面的数据联系起来。这有助于确定因果机制，也有助于解决为什么个人层面和宏观层面数据的结果产生不同结果的难题。第三，城市形态和基础设施的地理数据应进一步丰富社会人口数据。在制定减轻少数民族不成比例负担的战略时，这似乎尤其重要。第四，我们需要从时间角度调查数据，因此，使用面板数据和适当的固定效应回归技术。考虑到这些方面的研究将推动德国的研究状况，但也会加强对环境不平等一般领域因果力量的了解。此外，通过使用与美国类似的方法，未来的研究可以对两国进行比较研究。这应该为结构性条件在形成环境不平等中的作用提供重要见解。

Environmental inequality research addresses the question of whether environmental pollution is unequally distributed across different groups of citizens. While a huge body of research has documented the disproportionate burden of minorities in the United States, only a handful of empirical studies have investigated the topic of environmental inequality in Germany, thereby relying on either spatially aggregated data or on subjective assessments of environmental pollution. This is a serious shortcoming that needs attention. Moreover, previous research in the United States yields quite inconclusive results regarding the driving forces of environmental inequality. Some studies emphasise selective migration processes, some studies rather highlight selective siting processes, and still others find that infrastructural characteristics play a major role in shaping the disproportionate burden of minorities. This is a second serious shortcoming, given the severe consequences of a persistently high exposure to hazardous environmental pollution. Thus, the main aim of this proposal is to close these gaps in the literature by combining household-level data and enhanced measures of industrial environmental pollution in Germany. Specifically, the goals of this project are (1) to assess the extent of environmental inequality in Germany by using household-level data (as opposed to spatially aggregated data) and objective measures of industrial air pollution and (2) to investigate the causal forces of environmental inequality using geocoded panel data. To achieve those goals, the project involves several sub-goals. First, we aim to develop an accurate estimate of the exposure to toxic pollution in Germany by applying enhanced geographical modelling strategies to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). Second, we connect those exposure estimates to aggregated community characteristics as well as household-level data. This can help to identify the causal mechanisms but also to solve the puzzle of why results from individual-level and macro-level data yield different results. Third, the socio-demographic data should be further enriched by geographical data on urban forms and infrastructure. This seems especially relevant when developing strategies to reduce the disproportionate burden of minorities. Fourth, we need to investigate the data in a temporal perspective and, thus, use panel data and appropriate fixed-effects regression techniques. Research taking these aspects into account would advance the state of research in Germany, but also bolster the knowledge about causal forces in the general field of environmental inequality. Furthermore, by using similar methods as available in the USA, future research can conduct comparative research between the two countries. This should provide important insights on the role of structural condition in shaping environmental inequality.