The impact of air pollution on individual subjective well-being: Evidence from China

Linkages between air pollution and individual subjective well-being (SWB) are theorized as a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) covering 12,668 residents who were interviewed for five consecutive times during 2010-2018, we find significant negative effects of air pollution on individual SWB via the change of the respondent's physical health level, physical exercise behavior and obesity risk. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in county's annual average PM2.5 concentrations, instrumented by thermal inversion, is associated with a 2.45 standard deviations decrease in individual SWB level. In particular, people who are male, young people, less educated group, urban resident and live in eastern or western China are more sensitive to air pollution. This paper provides new insights into the health costs of air pollution.