Pollution-induced trips: Evidence from flight and train bookings in China

Abstract

Utilizing a novel database including nearly 2.2 billion booking records in China, we examine whether people escape from pollution by traveling to “cleaner” places. Combining an instrumental variable approach with high-dimensional fixed effects, we find a 50-unit increase in the AQI gap between a city pair leads to a 1.30% (1.33%) increase in train and airline ticket bookings from the origin to the destination city departing within one day (2–7 days). In addition, the destination of such pollution-induced trips is more likely to be an intra-province city with more tourist attractions. We also measure willingness to pay for clean air.