Multigenerational Persistence of Environmental Exposure

随着时间的推移，美国的空气质量有了很大改善，但污染最严重的社区仍然是少数族裔或低收入社区。这种对污染的不同暴露持续了一代又一代人。利用四十年的个人数据和现代经济理论，该项目将：记录暴露在空气污染中的种族差距的持续性，检查社会经济弱势群体不成比例的暴露是否以及在多大程度上会在几代人之间传递，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和结果的种族差异。此外，这项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参考，并提出摆脱贫困社区面临的低环境质量陷阱的方法。这一研究项目的结果还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较低端的公民。该项目扩展了规范空间排序模型，以研究观察到的种族暴露在环境污染中的代际持久性。作为理论和实证分析的延伸，该项目将收集非洲裔美国人社区中有环境污染地区生活经历的人的口述历史，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北卡罗来纳州14个县实施，这些县与1982年北卡罗来纳州多氯联苯(PCBs)抗议活动有关。PI将对这些口头历史进行定性分析，为模型的经验规范提供信息，并激励替代政策模拟。该项目为关于代际流动性的广泛文献做出了贡献，因为几项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，并最终转化为收入不平等。这一研究项目的结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较低端的公民。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.