Life satisfaction and air quality in London

By G. MacKerron, S. Mourato. 2009

379 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A growing body of research in economics concerns self-reported happiness, or life satisfaction (LS), and its relationship to a wide range of other variables. The findings of this research tend to highlight the importance of non-income aspects of individuals' life conditions. These findings are strongly complementary to themes within the sustainable development discourse. Firstly, they suggest ways in which we might consume less without compromising on our current levels of LS. And secondly, they help demonstrate the immediate LS benefits that could be gained from higher levels of environmental quality (EQ). However, the empirical evidence for the link between EQ and LS is, to date, somewhat weak, due in part to a lack of EQ data at a level of detail to match the individual-by-individual resolution of LS measures. This small, exploratory study therefore seeks to assess how the use of EQ data at very high spatial resolution could advance the empirical literature examining connections between LS and EQ levels, focusing on air quality in particular. It collects original survey data for approximately 400 Londoners, and uses geographical information system (GIS) software to calculate pollutant concentrations in the immediate vicinity of their homes. It uses this data to estimate maximum likelihood regression models explaining LS ratings in terms of a range of individual, household and local variables. Both perceived and measured air pollution levels are significantly negatively associated with the LS of the survey respondents, even when controlling for a wide range of other effects. An increase of 10 μg/m3 in annual mean nitrogen dioxide concentration appears to correspond on average to a drop of nearly half a point of LS on an 11-point rating scale. These findings cannot yet be generalised with confidence. However, if they were confirmed by larger future studies, they would appear to strengthen and extend existing arguments in favour of policies to reduce urban air pollution, framed both in terms of conventional economic efficiency analyses, and in wider political and ethical (and potentially legal) terms.

Subfields: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d96a21502d4237616e128716250cab5601e6bc2c

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Citations in the corpus

A review of air pollution impact on subjective well-being: Survey versus visual psychophysics (2018, neutral): “MacKerron and Mourato (2009) developed a survey to collect individual SWB data in London.”
Estimating the cost of air pollution in South East Queensland: An application of the life satisfaction non-market valuation approach (2013, neutral): “Like other studies (cf. MacKerron and Mourato, 2009), a key assumption, and potential limitation, of this study is that individuals experience the level of air pollution that exists in their local area.”
Public Greenspace and Life Satisfaction in Urban Australia (2014, background): “While the valuation of air quality has dominated the literature (cf. Ferreira and Moro, 2010; Luechinger, 2009, 2010; MacKerron and Mourato, 2009; Menz, 2011), other non-market environmental goods valued via the life satisfaction approach include airport noise (cf. van Praag and Baarsma, 2005),…”
The impact of economic, social and environmental factors on trip satisfaction and the likelihood of visitors returning (2016, background): “…& Maupertuis, 2007; Hernández & León, 2007, 2013; Saltzer, 2002a) Pollution effects investigated by (Cuñado & de Gracia, 2013; Levinson, 2012; MacKerron & Mourato, 2009; van Praag & Baarsma, 2005; Welsch, 2002, 2006, 2007a), environmental amenities considered by (Ambrey & Fleming, 2011;…”
Valuing scenic amenity using life satisfaction data (2011, methodology): “Other estimation options include the binary probit or logit models (cf. Winklemann and Winklemann, 1998) and the ordered logit model (cf. MacKerron and Mourato, 2009).”
The Life Satisfaction Approach to Environmental Valuation (2010, background): “This problem can be addressed by using pollution data with a higher spatial resolution such as the county or ZIP-code level (Levinson 2009; Luechinger 2009b; MacKerron and Mourato 2009).”
Life Satisfaction and Air Quality in Europe (2012, background): “…impact of environmental factors on subjective well- being at a sub-national level has in the past been limited by data availability, except for studies in local areas (e.g., Van Praag and Baarsma, 2005, study of noise in Amsterdam, or MacKerron and Mourato, 2009, study on air quality in London).”
Happiness in the Air: How Does a Dirty Sky Affect Mental Health and Subjective Well-being? (2017, background): “The first is life satisfaction (Welsch 2006, 2007; Rehdanz and Maddison 2008; MacKerron and Mourato 2009; Luechinger 2009, 2010; Menz 2011; Ferreira et al. 2013).”