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Title: Responses to Air Quality Alerts: Do Americans Spend Less Time Outdoors?

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: Air pollution levels can vary dramatically from day to day based on predictable weather variables such as sunlight and temperature. Thus, episodic policies aimed at reducing exposure on high pollution days could be cost effective relative to policies aimed at reducing pollution exposure across all days. Such episodic approaches may include efforts to reduce the supply of pollution on those days expected to yield high pollution levels, such as reducing manufacturing or discouraging vehicle use. But, these supply-side approaches can be very costly, and alternatively, reduced exposure can be achieved by increasing averting behavior among individuals. This paper investigates the effectiveness of such demand-side programs using American Time Use Survey data. Specifically, it investigates whether individuals respond to publicly provided information on air quality by reducing their vigorous outdoor activities, and thus minimizing their exposure to dangerous concentrations of pollutants on high-pollution days. While controlling for individual responses to actual air quality index levels, results show that individuals engage in averting behavior on alert days by reducing the time they spend in vigorous outdoor activities by 18 percent or 21 minutes on average.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Sexton, Alison L.

Publisher: University of Minnesota

Data Collections: IPUMS Time Use - ATUS

Topics: Health

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