Dr. Jinhua Zhao, Dean and Professor, Cornell University
Seminar will be held at 2:30 - 4 pm
Date:
Location:
MCLN 101
Abstract: We conduct a large-scale field experiment in Northern China to study residents’ defensive behaviors of reducing outdoor time and wearing facemasks against particulate matter (PM) pollution. Residents recorded their daily outdoor and mask-wearing times and monthly respiratory and cardiovascular (RC)-related hospital visits over an entire winter heating season. We distinguish between passive nudges where participants are provided information about PM pollution and its health damages and needed defensive measures, and active nudges where participants are additionally required to perform an easy task such as matching pollution levels with the corresponding health effects. We find strong evidence that active nudges improved defensive behaviors and reduced RC-related hospital visits, whereas passive nudges did not have significant effects. We develop parametric and nonparametric measures of inattention to pollution and its health damages, and find that inattention led to suboptimal behaviors. Active nudges reduced inattention, especially on high pollution days, and a sizable portion of the active nudges’ positive effects on defensive behavior was achieved through reduced inattention. Providing free masks increased mask-wearing on pollution days but did not affect outdoor time or inattention.