Traffic Congestion and Infant Health: Evidence from E-ZPass / Janet Currie, W. Reed Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Currie, Janet.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Walker, W. Reed.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15413.

NBER working paper series no. w15413

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Traffic Congestion and Infant Health

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

We exploit the introduction of electronic toll collection, (E-ZPass), which greatly reduced both traffic congestion and vehicle emissions near highway toll plazas. We show that the introduction of E-ZPass reduced prematurity and low birth weight among mothers within 2km of a toll plaza by 10.8% and 11.8% respectively relative to mothers 2-10km from a toll plaza. There were no immediate changes in the characteristics of mothers or in housing prices near toll plazas that could explain these changes. The results are robust to many changes in specification and suggest that traffic congestion contributes significantly to poor health among infants.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2009.