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Research ArticleArticle

Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance

Jennifer A. Heissel, Claudia Persico and David Simon
Published online before print April 09, 2020, 1218-9903R2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.57.3.1218-9903R2
Jennifer A. Heissel
Dr. Jennifer A. Heissel is an assistant professor of manpower and economics at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Claudia Persico is an assistant professor in public administration and policy at American University and a research affiliate at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics; she can be reached at . Dr. David Simon is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Connecticut and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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Claudia Persico
Dr. Jennifer A. Heissel is an assistant professor of manpower and economics at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Claudia Persico is an assistant professor in public administration and policy at American University and a research affiliate at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics; she can be reached at . Dr. David Simon is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Connecticut and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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David Simon
Dr. Jennifer A. Heissel is an assistant professor of manpower and economics at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Claudia Persico is an assistant professor in public administration and policy at American University and a research affiliate at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics; she can be reached at . Dr. David Simon is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Connecticut and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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Abstract

We examine the effect of traffic pollution on student outcomes by leveraging variation in wind patterns for schools the same distance from major highways. We compare within-student changes in achievement for students transitioning between schools near highways, where one school has greater levels of pollution because it is downwind of a highway. As students graduate from elementary/middle school to middle/high school, their test scores decrease, behavioral incidents increase, and absence rates increase when they attend a downwind school, relative to when they attend an upwind school in the same zip code. Even within zip codes, microclimates can contribute to inequality.

JEL Codes
  • I10
  • I21

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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance
Jennifer A. Heissel, Claudia Persico, David Simon
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2020, 1218-9903R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.3.1218-9903R2

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Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance
Jennifer A. Heissel, Claudia Persico, David Simon
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2020, 1218-9903R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.3.1218-9903R2
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Keywords

  • I10
  • I21
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