Projects

This paper investigates the role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in advancing environmental justice through monitoring and enforcement efforts mandated by the Clean Air Act.
Our analysis relies on a comprehensive dataset encompassing auditing information from all environmentally relevant plants between 2000 and 2018.
Leveraging county-level variation in racial composition and environmental auditing, we find a substantial and persistent reduction in the proportion of inspected plants following increases in the share of non-White population. This decline coincides with a decrease in political activism, particularly among entities typically advocating for more stringent environmental protection.

This study investigates the impact of electing leaders with criminal records on PM2.5 air pollution in India, a topic previously unexplored in environmental economics. Utilizing data from 2008-2018 across Indian constituencies and employing a Regression Discontinuity Design, the paper reveals significant correlations between such political choices and air pollution levels. These findings offer new insights into the intersection of political dynamics and environmental policy, with substantial implications for environmental governance and public health.

This paper investigates the validity of the EKC hypothesis in India on a small geographical scale using remotely sensed data. Introducing the share of people over 65 as an indicator for health additionally connects the often distinctly investigated research areas of the EKC and the pollution-health nexus for a first time.