COVID-19 and Air Quality: Evidence from China
Wen Ming, Zhengqing Zhou, Hongshan Ai, Huimin Bi, Yuan Zhong
Abstract
To test the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality, this article matches the city-level real-time air quality monitoring data with the big data on population migration provided by Baidu. The article uses urban samples from the same data sample of the Chinese lunar calendar in 2019 to construct the counterfactual status of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, the difference-in-differences (DID) model is employed to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality. It is found that the COVID-19 pandemic caused PM2.5 and AQI to decrease by about 7 μg/m3 and 5-points, respectively.
Topics & Concepts
Counterfactual thinkingCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)PandemicAir quality indexChinaSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSample (material)PopulationQuality (philosophy)GeographyEconometricsEnvironmental healthEconomicsMeteorologyVirologyMedicinePsychologyOutbreakChemistryInfectious disease (medical specialty)Social psychologyPathologyChromatographyArchaeologyPhilosophyDiseaseEpistemologyCOVID-19 impact on air qualityAir Quality and Health ImpactsCOVID-19 Pandemic Impacts