Methods for assessing the impact of PM2.5 concentration on mortality while controlling for socio-economic factors

Abstract

Even though industrial development has brought vast improvements to our daily lives, it carries with it negative effects such as adverse health outcomes caused by PM2.5 and other pollutants. The negative externalities and external costs might occur when property rights are not properly defined, which means that if no one holds a property right on the atmosphere and the quality of air, there is no appropriate mechanism to prevent a further expansion of negative effects. An economic burden of pollution related to premature morbidity and mortality in individual countries can account for 5–14% of GDP (World Bank, 2021). In 2019, the worldwide health cost of mortality and morbidity caused by exposure to PM2.5 concentration was $8.1 trillion, which is equivalent to 6.1 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) (World Bank estimate). Policymakers require evidence-based results that clearly show the impact that air pollution has on the economy and society, in order to be able to establish the proper regulations and ensure their successful implementation. The purpose of this long term study is to provide methods for assessing the negative effects of PM2.5 concentration on PM2.5-related mortality using panel data structure and demonstrate how socio-economic factors affect this relation. This study employed advanced econometric techniques to analyse the long-term impact of PM2.5 on human health, while controlling for socio economic indicators. This study has demonstrated significant effects of socio-economic, health risk and system and governance variables on the relation between PM2.5 ​concentration and PM2.5-related mortality.