Date of Award
Spring 5-3-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Partha Deb
Second Advisor
Sangita Vyas
Academic Program Adviser
Karna Basu
Abstract
Air pollution in developing nations presents a significant health threat; India's reliance on coal to meet increasing electricity demands and the non-compliance of coal plants with emission regulations worsen air pollution, resulting in considerable health risks. In this paper, I estimate the effect of exposure to coal plants on birth weight using data from the 2019-21 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and the Central Electricity Authority's data on coal plants in India. A linear regression controls for confounding factors, including village and birth cohort effects, as well as birth and household variables. I find that an additional gigawatt (GW) increase in coal capacity, an additional terawatt-hour (TWh) increase in coal generation units, and each additional kilogram of Carbon dioxide emissions per gigawatt-hour (kgCO_2/GWh) decrease birth weight by 51.1g, 10.5g, and 11.3g respectively. I also estimate that infants born to mothers residing within a 50km proximity to average-sized coal plants are, on average, 40g smaller than their counterparts in non-coal-exposed villages.
Recommended Citation
Nakkungu, Deborah, "Impact of Exposure to Coal Plants on Birth Weight: Evidence from India Coal Plant Capacity" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1195