Indoor Air Pollution and Infant Mortality: A New Approach

摘要

In most developing countries, cooking fuels emit indoor air pollutants that may lead to poor health. The World Health Organization claims that dirty cooking fuels are associated with approximately 4.3 million premature deaths each year (WHO 2016). The magnitude of this correlation varies widely across studies, and a causal link has not been clearly established. Even though indoor air pollution is one major threat to global health, economists have only recently become interested in this issue.In cross-sectional studies, risks of alternative fuels and cooking stoves can be confounded by the use of multiple fuels, not all of which may be reported, plus many unobserved factors that may be associated with cooking fuel choices. Household behavior, among other factors, obscures health impacts. For example, the largest randomized control trial (RCT) found no effect from free use of new, cleaner cooking stoves, because households used them irregularly and inappropriately (Hanna, Duflo, and Greenstone 2016). People may also take actions to avoid inhaling smoke or particulate matter, especially when the pollutants are obvious and cause discomfort. These findings further show that the link between indoor air pollution and health is inconclusive.