Avoidance behavior against air pollution: evidence from online search indices for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters in Chinese cities

被引：58

作者：

Liu T. ^{[1
]}

He G. ^{[1
,2
]}

Lau A. ^{[1
,3
]}

机构：

[1] Division of Environment and Sustainability, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon

[2] Division of Social Science, and Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon

[3] School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon

来源：

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies | 2018年 / 20卷 / 2期

关键词：

Air pollution; Avoidance behavior; Haze alert; Online search; PM[!sub]2.5[!/sub;

D O I：

10.1007/s10018-017-0196-3

中图分类号：

学科分类号：

摘要：

This study investigates people’s behavioral responses to air pollution information in China. We find that elevated air pollution levels are positively associated with higher online searches for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters. A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 is associated with a 3.6–8.4% increase of mobile queries for anti-PM2.5 masks, and 1.1–4.7% for air filters. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that a haze alert issued when PM2.5 concentration exceeds 250 µg/m3 would double online queries for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters. Online searches are also positively correlated with online sales. One day of severe pollution would induce a cost of 0.2 million USD on online expenditure on anti-PM2.5 masks. Some suggestive evidence shows that people in richer and polluted cities tend to search more for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters than those in poorer and cleaner cities. © 2017, Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies and Springer Japan KK.

引用

页码：325 / 363

页数：38