A. Alberini et A. Krupnick, AIR-QUALITY AND EPISODES OF ACUTE RESPIRATORY ILLNESS IN TAIWAN CITIES - EVIDENCE FROM SURVEY DATA, Journal of urban economics (Print), 44(1), 1998, pp. 68-92
This paper reports on a unique study that records daily health status
for over 900 residents of three urban areas in Taiwan and elicits thei
r willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid episodes of illness. Incidence of
illness is related to the ambient concentration levels of particulate
matter, but the effects are much less pronounced than we would expect
from earlier U.S. studies. Willingness to pay to avoid illness is cons
iderably higher than that predicted by extrapolations of U.S. studies
that rely on simple income adjustments. We argue that extrapolations f
rom U.S. studies may be inadequate for predicting the benefits of redu
ced pollution levels in developing countries. (C) 1998 Academic Press.