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http://dx.doi.org/10.15266/KEREA.2018.27.2.315

The Local Effects of Coal-fired Power Plant Shutdown on PM2.5 Concentration: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Korea  

Yi, Donggyu (Korea Institute of Public Finance)
Sung, Jae-hoon (Korea Rural Economic Institute)
Publication Information
Environmental and Resource Economics Review / v.27, no.2, 2018 , pp. 315-337 More about this Journal
Abstract
Korean government temporarily shut down the coal-fired power plants built before 30 years and more from 6/1/2017 to 6/31/2017. This treatment provides a credible natural experiment regarding the regional $PM_{2.5}$ concentration and coal-fired generators. Based on this feature of the treatment, this study analyzed the causality between the old coal-fired power plants and regional $PM_{2.5}$ concentration. To be specific, we categorized two pollution monitoring stations nearby coal-fired power plants in Yeongdong into a treatment station and a control station based on the distance from the power plants. The control station is similar to the treatment station geographically and topographically, but its $PM_{2.5}$ concentration would not be directly affected by coal-fired power plants in Yeongdong. A difference-in-difference method was applied to identify the effects of the old coal-fire power plants on regional $PM_{2.5}$ concentration. The results show that the temporary shutdown would decrease $PM_{2.5}$ concentration nearby coal-fired power plants in Yeongdong by $3.7{\sim}4.4{\mu}g/m^3$.
Keywords
$PM_{2.5}$; Policy experiment; Coal-fired power plant; Local effect;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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