Abstract
Do long-term improvements in air quality influence children’s educational outcomes? This paper investigates the impact of Low Emission Zones (LEZs), which restrict access to designated areas for emission-intensive vehicles, on the educational achievement of elementary school students in Germany. Using school-level data from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, we exploit the staggered introduction of LEZs since 2008 with a difference-in-differences approach. LEZ implementations increase transition rates to the academic track in secondary education by approximately one percentage point, or 2.4 percent. We validate this finding using more aggregated district-level data across all of Germany. Our findings imply sizable educational co-benefits of reductions in air pollution.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 103165 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management |
Volume | 132 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2025 |
JEL classifications
- i18 - "Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health"
- i21 - Analysis of Education
- j24 - "Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity"
- q52 - "Pollution Control Adoption Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects"
- q53 - "Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling"
- q58 - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
Keywords
- Low Emission Zones
- Air quality
- Education
- Co-benefits