Learning and Work Hybrid Seminars, Maastricht University, SBE, Spring 2025

When: April 1st
Time: 12h00 – 13h00
Where: TS49 - 0.003 ROA-lounge

Speakers: Benjamin Krebs (University of Basel)

Title: Air Pollution and U.S. internal migration: Evidence from coal-fired power plants

Abstract: US electricity generation has experienced a dramatic shift during the past 20 years. 
Between 2005 and 2019, generation from coal declined by 52%, while natural gas generation increased by 116%. One of the main drivers for the decline of coal was falling natural gas prices. Therefore, many coal-fired power plants were retired. This transition has brought about significant improvements in US air quality, mainly to regions that have historically had a high number of coal plants. We investigate the ramifications of pollution reduction from coal plant retirements with respect to internal migration in the US. We leverage a rich dataset from the Internal Revenue Service on yearly county-to-county migration numbers and migrators' income. These data allow us to provide an in-depth analysis of pollution-induced migratory flows. As current federal policies aim to decarbonize electricity generation, a thorough understanding of how such primary and permanent reductions in local pollutants affect the movement of people is important. Migration has a whole cascade of consequences for, e.g., housing and job markets, a county’s tax base, and environmental justice. We can investigate these macroeconomic indicators by including income data in our analysis. To estimate the causal effects of air quality improvements, we apply an instrumental variable approach. We leverage emissions from coal plants located far away from a county, and we model the pollution dispersion from these plants. Therefore, we focus on plant retirements that affect a county in no other way than through its pollution level. Preliminary results suggest a reduction in annual mean PM2.5 concentration increases in-migration and decreases out-migration.

Upcoming scheduled seminars:
15-4-2025 Dieter Verhaest (KU Leuven)
6-5-2025   Jean-William P. Laliberté (University of Calgary)
20-5-2025 Sergio Para Cely (ROA-Maastricht University)
10-6-2025 Hannah Illing (University of Bonn)
24-6-2025 Brigitte Schels (Paris Lodron University Salzburg)
1-7-2025   Ulf Zölitz (University of Zurich)

January 14, 2025 Lorenzo Navarini (University of Vienna) - “Changes in Returns to Multidimensional Skills across Cohorts”

January 28, 2025 Elke Claes (MILE/ ROA) - Private vs. Public Schooling: 
The Role of School Composition

February 11, 2025 Jonas Detemple (BIBB/University of Bamberg) - Career Success of Mothers and Fathers - The Role of Local Public Childcare (joint w/ Katarina Weßling & Dominik Becker)

February 25, 2025 Mantej Pardesi (ROA-Maastricht University) - Technology, Capital Vintages and Training - Role of capital investments in firm’s skill formation strategy

March 18, 2025 Pelin Özgül and Nicholas Rounding (ROA Maastricht University) - Artificial Intelligence in Coaching: Improving Productivity and Communication Quality for Call Center Agents