What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to estimate how the Nitrogen Oxide Budget Program affects infant mortality rates in the U.S.

April 1, 2026Open Access

The Effects of Ozone Pollution Regulation on Infant Mortality

Key Points

The aim is to estimate how the Nitrogen Oxide Budget Program affects infant mortality rates in the U.S.
Utilized county-level data from 1996-2009.
Exploited staggered adoption of the NBP across states.
Focused specifically on prenatal pollution exposure during summer months.
Infant mortality reduced by approximately 4-5 percent due to the NBP.
Larger reductions observed in the earliest months after birth.
Instrumental-variables analysis indicated that decreased ambient ozone is the main reason for the mortality reduction.

Abstract

This paper estimates the causal effect of the Nitrogen Oxide Budget Program (NBP), a regional cap-and-trade regulation targeting ozone pollution, on infant mortality in the United States. Exploiting the program’s staggered adoption across states and its restriction to summer months, we use county-level data from 1996–2009 to identify variation in prenatal pollution exposure. Prenatal exposure to the NBP reduced infant mortality by approximately 4–5 percent, with larger effects in the earliest months of life. Instrumental-variables estimates confirm that reductions in ambient ozone are the primary mechanism.

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Cite This Study

Toranji et al. (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69ccb76c16edfba7beb896fb https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.58567/jea05020002

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