Do Environmental Crimes Contribute to Air Pollution? Empirical Evidence and Effects on Health

29 Pages Posted: 30 May 2023

See all articles by Anna Rita Germani

Anna Rita Germani

Sapienza University of Rome

Giorgia Marini

University of Rome La Sapienza

Alessio D'Amato

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics

Alan Ker

Michigan State University

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of environmental crimes on ambient air pollution in Italy, using annual provincial data over the period 2010-2016. While the impact of ambient air pollution on health has been the focus of a significant amount of literature, a nascent body of works is focusing on the impact of illegal behavior on environmental quality. Our work is ideally divided in two steps: firstly, we identify and assess empirically the potential correlation between environmental crimes and four different kinds of ambient air pollution. Secondly, we identify the health impacts that may be triggered by environmentally harmful illegal activities, through their impact on ambient air pollution, by linking them to existing contributions. Our findings suggest that the existence of such an “indirect” link may indeed be confirmed. We find that higher levels of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3 concentration are associated with higher levels of environmental crimes related to wildfires. We conclude our analysis by providing a straightforward quantification of the potential health-related impacts of ambient air pollution changes potentially triggered by criminal environmental behaviors.

Keywords: ambient air pollution, environmental crime, Health, panel data, Italy

Suggested Citation

Germani, Anna Rita and Marini, Giorgia and D'Amato, Alessio and Ker, Alan, Do Environmental Crimes Contribute to Air Pollution? Empirical Evidence and Effects on Health. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4463437 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4463437

Anna Rita Germani

Sapienza University of Rome ( email )

Rome
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://annaritagermani.site.uniroma1.it

Giorgia Marini

University of Rome La Sapienza ( email )

Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
Roma, Rome 00185
Italy

Alessio D'Amato

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Via Columbia n.2
Rome, rome 00100
Italy

Alan Ker (Contact Author)

Michigan State University ( email )

Agriculture Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1122
United States

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