RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance JF Journal of Human Resources JO J Hum Resour FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 747 OP 776 DO 10.3368/jhr.57.3.1218-9903R2 VO 57 IS 3 A1 Jennifer A. Heissel A1 Claudia Persico A1 David Simon YR 2022 UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/57/3/747.abstract AB 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.