JUE insight: Ticket to paradise? The effect of a public transport subsidy on air quality

This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of public transport subsidies on air pollution. The authors obtain causal estimates by leveraging a unique policy intervention in Germany that temporarily reduced nationwide prices for regional public transport to a monthly flat rate price of 9 Euros. Using DiD estimation strategies on air pollutant data, the authors show that this intervention causally reduced a benchmark air pollution index by more than eight percent and, after its termination, increased again. The authors' results illustrate that public transport subsidies – especially in the context of spatially constrained cities – offer a viable alternative for policymakers and city planers to improve air quality, which has been shown to crucially affect health outcomes.

Language

  • English

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01910380
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Feb 28 2024 2:12PM