Replication data for: Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India

Using the most comprehensive developing country dataset ever
compiled on air and water pollution and environmental regulations,
the paper assesses India's environmental regulations with a
difference-in-differences design. The air pollution regulations are
associated with substantial improvements in air quality. The most
successful air regulation resulted in a modest but statistically
insignificant decline in infant mortality. In contrast, the water
regulations had no measurable benefits. The available evidence leads
us to cautiously conclude that higher demand for air quality prompted
the effective enforcement of air pollution regulations, indicating that
strong public support allows environmental regulations to succeed in
weak institutional settings.

借助迄今最为全面的发展中国家空气污染、水污染及环境规制相关汇编数据集，本文采用双重差分法（difference-in-differences）研究设计评估印度的环境规制政策效果。空气污染规制与空气质量的显著改善紧密相关。其中成效最为突出的空气污染规制，虽使婴儿死亡率出现小幅下降，但该结果在统计学上并不显著。与之形成鲜明对比的是，水污染规制未产生任何可观测到的益处。综合现有证据，我们谨慎地得出结论：公众对空气质量的更高需求推动了空气污染规制的有效执行，这表明在制度薄弱的环境中，强有力的公众支持能够助力环境规制政策取得成功。