This dissertation investigates the external costs of agricultural straw burning on air pollution and a variety of related outcomes in China. Quantifying the impacts of straw burning is crucial for optimal policy design in management of straw in China and other agricultural regions around the world. I leverage satellite remote sensing to measure daily straw burning points from 2013 to 2015. Straw burning data are linked to air quality from ground-level monitors. I then employ fixed-effects regression models to estimate the contribution of rural burning to urban air pollution. I find that straw burning mainly contributes to particulate matter, and then use straw burning as an instrument to estimate the morality risk of PM_2.5. Straw burning primarily affects rural residents and causes more...[ Read more ]

This dissertation investigates the external costs of agricultural straw burning on air pollution and a variety of related outcomes in China. Quantifying the impacts of straw burning is crucial for optimal policy design in management of straw in China and other agricultural regions around the world. I leverage satellite remote sensing to measure daily straw burning points from 2013 to 2015. Straw burning data are linked to air quality from ground-level monitors. I then employ fixed-effects regression models to estimate the contribution of rural burning to urban air pollution. I find that straw burning mainly contributes to particulate matter, and then use straw burning as an instrument to estimate the morality risk of PM_2.5. Straw burning primarily affects rural residents and causes more rural residents to die from cardiorespiratory diseases. Males above 40 years old bear higher mortality risks of straw burning than other population. Urban mortality, in contrast, is unaffected by short-term variation in air pollution from straw burning. Nevertheless, straw burning is positively associated with rural residents' subjective well-being and mental health, whereas making urban non-farmers depressed. I further evaluate the regulation on straw burning and find that government subsidies can be more effective than command-and-control policies in restraining straw burning. Lastly, I support the data analysis with qualitative evidence from interviews in a field trip to one agricultural city in China, and highlight a few potential issues in current policy design and implementation to address in the future.