Spatial Spillover Effects of Air Pollution on the Health Expenditure of Rural Residents: Based on Spatial Durbin Model.

Bo Sun,Bo Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph18137058

Abstract

Background: Air pollution is one source of harm to the health of residents, and the impact of air pollution on health expenditure has become a hot topic worldwide. However, few studies aim at the spatial spillover effects of air pollution on the health expenditure of rural residents (HE-RR), including the impact on the health expenditure in neighboring areas. Objective: Based on the existing research, this paper further introduces the spatial dimension and uses the Spatial Durbin model to discuss the impact of environmental pollution on the health expenditure of rural residents (HE-RR). Methods: Based on provincial panel data during 2002–2015 in China, the Spatial Durbin model was used to investigate the spatial spillover effect of the average annual concentration of PM2.5 (AAC-PM2.5) on the health expenditure of rural residents (HE-RR). Results: There was a significant positive correlation between AAC-PM2.5 and health expenditure of rural residents (HE-RR) in neighboring areas at a significant level of 5% (COEF: 2.546, Z: 2.340), that is, AAC-PM2.5 has a spatial spillover effect on PC-HE-RR in neighboring areas, and the spatial spillover effect is greater than the direct effect. The migration and diffusion of PM2.5 pollution will affect the air quality of neighboring areas, leading to the health risk not only from the local PM2.5 pollution but also the nearby PM2.5 pollution. Conclusion: The results show a significant positive relationship between air pollution and HE-RR in neighboring areas, and the spatial spillover effect is greater than the direct effect.

Highlights

Remarkable economic progress has been accompanied by serious environmental problems and consequent high health costs in China
The results show that a significant positive spatial correlation in the proportion of the health expenditure of rural residents to consumption expenditure in
In the spatial autocorrelation test of annual average PM2.5 concentration in various regions of China, the results show that the Moran index of annual average PM2.5 concentration in all regions of China fluctuated around 0.2 from 2002 to 2015, and the Moran index was generally larger than the Moran index of the proportion of the health expenditure in consumption expenditure of rural residents, and was significant at the significance level of 1%, It shows that there is a spatial correlation between the annual average PM2.5 concentrations in various regions of China

Summary

Introduction

Particulate matter in the air and toxic elements related to inhalable particulate matter can affect heart rate variability, blood pressure, vascular tension, blood coagulation, and atherosclerosis (Miao et al, 2010; Shan et al, 2016; Muhammad, 2018) [1,2,3], leading to respiratory symptoms, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer, lung dysfunction, and asthma (Joel, 2007; Xu et al, 2017; Zhen, 2018) [4,5,6], even causing severe case mortality (Michael B, 2018; Pablo F, 2017; Antonis A, 2018) [7,8,9] He (2018) found that fine particles in the air are the main contributors to the burden of disease and disabilityadjusted life years [10]. Objective: Based on the existing research, this paper further introduces the spatial dimension and uses the Spatial Durbin model to discuss the impact of environmental pollution on the health expenditure of rural residents (HE-RR)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion