From Low Emission Zone to academic track: Environmental policy effects on educational achievement in elementary school: Environmental policy effects on educational achievement in elementary school

Johannes Brehm*, Nico Pestel, Sandra Schaffner, Laura Schmitz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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 languageEnglish
Article number103165
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Environmental Economics and Management
Volume132
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 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

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