Title

The Mortality Effects of Winter Heating Prices

Author(s)

Janjala Chirakijja Janjala Chirakijja (Monash University)

Seema Jayachandran Seema Jayachandran (Princeton University and NBER)

Pinchuan Ong Pinchuan Ong (National University of Singapore Business School)

Abstract

This paper examines how the price of home heating affects mortality in the US. Exposure to cold is one reason that mortality peaks in winter, and a higher heating price increases exposure to cold by reducing heating use. Our empirical approach combines spatial variation in the energy source used for home heating and temporal variation in the national prices of natural gas and electricity. We find that a lower heating price reduces winter mortality, driven mostly by cardiovascular and respiratory causes. Our estimates imply that the 42% drop in the natural gas price in the late 2000s, mostly driven by the shale gas boom, averted 12,500 deaths per year in the US. The effect appears to be especially large in high-poverty communities.

Creation Date

2023-01

Section URL ID

Paper Number

305

URL

https://gceps.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wp305_Jayachandran-et-al_heating_mortality_23jan.pdf

File Function

Jel

I30, I31, I39, Q41

Keyword(s)

Mortality, Home Heating, Heating Prices

Suppress

false

Series

3