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Early-life environment and human capital: evidence from the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Evan D. Peet Open the ORCID record for Evan D. Peet [Opens in a new window]
Evan D. Peet*
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: epeet@rand.org
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Abstract

This study examines how human capital develops in response to early-life weather and pollution exposures in the Philippines. Both pollution and weather are examined in relation to short- and long-term human capital outcomes. We combine a three-decade longitudinal survey measuring human capital development, a database of historical weather, and multiple databases characterizing carbon monoxide and ozone in the Philippines during the 1980s. We find evidence that extreme precipitation and temperature affect short-term anthropometric outcomes, but long-term outcomes appear unaffected. For long-term cognitive outcomes, we find that early-life pollution exposures negatively affect test scores and schooling. These long-term responses to early-life pollution exposures extend to the labor market with reduced hours worked and earnings. The implication is that a 25 per cent reduction in early-life ozone exposure would increase per person discounted lifetime earnings by $1,367, which would scale to $2.05 billion at the national level (or 2 per cent of 2005 GDP).

Keywords

developmentenvironmentweatherpollutionhuman capital

JEL classification

O13: Agriculture • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Other Primary Products Q54: Climate • Natural Disasters and Their Management • Global Warming O15: Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration Q56: Environment and Development • Environment and Trade • Sustainability • Environmental Accounts and Accounting • Environmental Equity • Population Growth Q51: Valuation of Environmental Effects Q53: Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Noise • Hazardous Waste • Solid Waste • Recycling
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 1 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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