{"672749":{"#nid":"672749","#data":{"type":"news","title":"EPICenter Faculty Affiliates Examine How Economists Contribute to Our Understanding of Pollution\u2019s Health Impact ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFaculty\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDylan Brewer, Daniel Dench, and Laura Taylor\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWritten by Sharon Murphy\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAbout This Project\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Energy, Policy, and Innovation Center faculty affiliates \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/dylan-brewer\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDylan Brewer\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/1103263e-f423-5a44-9c34-3f3083b87d12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDaniel Dench\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and Interim Director \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/laura-taylor\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ELaura Taylor\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E published an article titled \u0022\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.annualreviews.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1146\/annurev-resource-101722-081026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAdvances in Causal Inference at the Intersection of Air Pollution and Health Outcomes\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan lang=\u0022RU\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0022\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E The authors compare the methods used in the epidemiology literature with the causal inference framework used in economics in analyzing the effect of air pollution on health outcomes.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDetermining the quality and accuracy of the evidence linking air pollution to human health has been a challenge for research in this area. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEach academic discipline has a unique lens through which they view and solve a problem, which may result in different conclusions being drawn from the same data. While studies that involve randomization across populations can provide evidence and are widely used in medical research, exposures to everyday air pollution cannot be randomized by a researcher. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMany existing studies exploring the health impacts of air pollution rely on establishing correlations between pollutants and health outcomes. However, correlations do not imply causation and can lead to bad policy. In this study, the EPICenter affiliates reviewed methodological contributions made by economists to determine if using statistical methods to the study of the health effects of air pollution can contribute to more robust and reliable findings. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETo understand the difficulty researchers face, consider a typical air pollution study that collects health data of residents\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan lang=\u0022DA\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E liv\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eing near a pollution source, such as a coal-fired power plant. The data would be used to see if there is an increased incidence of adverse health outcomes such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or cardiopulmonary disease. However, many factors can create a confounding effect on the final results if the researcher doesn\u2019t take them into consideration. For instance, the power plant may have been built in a low-income location, or lower-income households may have moved near the power plant to take advantage of lower rent or property prices. This may conflate the effect of income and air pollution on health. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESimple schematic documenting the path of air pollution from emissions to outcomes. This review discusses the challenges of measuring how emissions of pollutants (step 1) disperse through the air (step 2) to become eventual exposures (step 3) and health outcomes (step 4).\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEconomists promote the use of natural experiments to overcome confounding factors. Natural experiments mimic familiar laboratory experiments. For instance, in the power plant example, random variation in wind direction would result in some households being randomly more exposed to air pollution, regardless of income. By taking advantage of this randomization, researchers can compare differences in a particular health outcome between those more exposed and less exposed, while overcoming confounding effects such as income, and move one step closer toward improving our understanding of the relationship between air pollution and adverse health outcomes. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe authors conclude by emphasizing the need for creating multidisciplinary teams, including economists, air-quality modelers, and public health and medical researchers. \u201cWhile one may not think of economists as a natural contributor to this line of research, the analytical framework honed by economists over decades can contribute important expertise to the design of these types of studies,\u201d Taylor concluded, \u201cand result in better evidence for policymakers.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERead more: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1146\/annurev-resource-101722-081026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1146\/annurev-resource-101722-081026\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Energy, Policy, and Innovation Center faculty affiliates \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/dylan-brewer\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDylan Brewer\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/1103263e-f423-5a44-9c34-3f3083b87d12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDaniel Dench\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and Interim Director \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/laura-taylor\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ELaura Taylor\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E published an article titled \u0022\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.annualreviews.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1146\/annurev-resource-101722-081026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAdvances in Causal Inference at the Intersection of Air Pollution and Health Outcomes\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan lang=\u0022RU\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0022\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E The authors compare the methods used in the epidemiology literature with the causal inference framework used in economics in analyzing the effect of air pollution on health outcomes.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"EPICenter faculty affiliates Dylan Brewer, Daniel Dench, and Interim Director Laura Taylor compare methods used in epidemiology literature with the causal inference framework used in economics in analyzing the effect of air pollution on health outcomes. "}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2024-02-05 21:18:21","changed_gmt":"2024-02-05 21:27:14","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672967":{"id":"672967","type":"image","title":"DylanBrewerarticle-picture.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESimple schematic documenting the path of air pollution from emissions to outcomes. This review discusses the challenges of measuring how emissions of pollutants (step 1) disperse through the air (step 2) to become eventual exposures (step 3) and health outcomes (step 4).\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1707167942","gmt_created":"2024-02-05 21:19:02","changed":"1707167942","gmt_changed":"2024-02-05 21:19:02","alt":"Simple schematic documenting the path of air pollution from emissions to outcomes. This review discusses the challenges of measuring how emissions of pollutants (step 1) disperse through the air (step 2) to become eventual exposures (step 3) and health outcomes (step 4).","file":{"fid":"256302","name":"DylanBrewerarticle-picture.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/05\/DylanBrewerarticle-picture.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/05\/DylanBrewerarticle-picture.png","mime":"image\/png","size":183436,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/02\/05\/DylanBrewerarticle-picture.png?itok=zDYrT3Oy"}}},"media_ids":["672967"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.annualreviews.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1146\/annurev-resource-101722-081026","title":"Annual Reviews Article Link"}],"groups":[{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EPriya Devarajan\u003C\/a\u003E | SEI Communications Program Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAuthored by: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:smurphy77@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESharon Murphy\u003C\/a\u003E, Strategic Energy Institute\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}