East Side Story: Historical Pollution and Persistent Neighborhood Sorting. School of Economics and Finance Discussion Paper 1613

Heblich, S., Trew, A. and Zylberberg, Y. (2016) East Side Story: Historical Pollution and Persistent Neighborhood Sorting. School of Economics and Finance Discussion Paper 1613. Working Paper. University of St Andrews.

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Publisher's URL: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~wwwecon/repecfiles/4/1613.pdf

Abstract

Why are the east sides of formerly industrial cities often the more deprived? Using individual-level census data together with newly created historical pollution patterns derived from the locations of 5,000 industrial chimneys and an atmospheric model, we show that this results from the persistence of neighborhood sorting that first emerged during the Industrial Revolution when prevailing winds blew pollution eastwards. Past pollution explains up to 20% of the observed neighborhood segregation in 2011, even though coal pollution stopped in the 1970s. A quantitative model identi?es the role of non-linearities and tipping-like dynamics underlying this persistence.

Item Type:Research Reports or Papers (Working Paper)
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Trew, Professor Alex
Authors: Heblich, S., Trew, A., and Zylberberg, Y.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
Publisher:University of St Andrews

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