Xiaoguang Ling | Searcharxiv

arXiv2023

The effect of ambient air pollution on birth outcomes in Norway

Ambient air pollution is harmful to the fetus even in countries with relatively low levels of pollution. In this paper, I examine the effects of ambient air pollution on birth outcomes in Norway. I find that prenatal exposure to ambient nitric oxide in the last trimester causes significant birth weight and birth length loss under the same sub-postcode fixed effects and calendar month fixed effects, whereas other ambient air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide appear to be at safe levels for the fetus in Norway. In addition, the marginal adverse effect of ambient nitric oxide is larger for newborns with disadvantaged parents. Both average concentrations of nitric oxide and occasional high concentration events can adversely affect birth outcomes. The contributions of my work include: first, my finding that prenatal exposure to environmental nitric oxide has an adverse effect on birth outcomes fills a long-standing knowledge gap. Second, with the large sample size and geographic division of sub-postal codes in Norway, I can control for a rich set of spatio-temporal fixed effects to overcome most of the endogeneity problems caused by the choice of residential area and date of delivery. In addition, I study ambient air pollution in a low-pollution setting, which provides new evidence on the health effects of low ambient air pollution.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2022

Heterogeneous earning responses to inheritance: new event-study evidence from Norway

It has long been assumed that inheritances, particularly large ones, have a negative effect on the labor supply of inheritors. Using Norwegian registry data, I examine the inheritance-induced decline in inheritors' wages and occupational income. In contrast to prior research, my estimates allow the dynamic effect of inheritances on labor supply to vary among inheritor cohorts. The estimation approach adopted and the 25-year long panel data make it possible to trace the dynamics of the effect for at least 20 years, which is twice as long as the study period in previous studies. Since all observations in the sample are inheritors, I avoid the selection problem arising in studies employing non-inheritors as controls. I find that large parental inheritances (more than one million Norwegian kroner) reduce annual wage and occupational income by, at most, 4.3%, which is about half the decrease previously identified. The magnitude of the effect increases with the size of the inheritance. Large inheritances also increase the probability of being self-employed by more than 1%, although entrepreneurship may be dampened by inheritances that are excessively large. The inheritance effect lasts for up to 10 years and is heterogeneous across sexes and age groups. Male heirs are more likely to reduce their labor supply after receiving the transfer. Young heirs are more likely to be self-employed, and their annual occupational income is, therefore, less affected by inheritances in the long run; for the very young inheriting large amounts of wealth from their grandparents, the probability of their attaining a post-secondary education declines by 2%.

econ.GN↗