Causes of haze and its health effects in Singapore: a replication study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP10/2020Publication date: June 2020
Author(s):
Intermittently Singapore suffers from severe air pollution in periods of intense forest and peatland fires on neighboring South-Asian islands. A recent American Economic Review article modeled the causal relationships between fire intensity in Indonesia and air pollution (PSI) in Singapore, and between PSI and health clinic visits in Singapore. We find serious flaws in the quantitative assessment of these relationships. Attempts are made to repair these using the same classic methodology and data, but also by alternative methods requiring less speculative assumptions. Although actually more detailed data are required, also some results are produced which seem more credible.
JEL Classification:C12, C13, C26, I1, Q53
Keywords:endogeneity robust inference, environmental economics, health economics, instrument invalidity, sensitivity analysis
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Monday 28 July 202512:00-13:00
Dr Neil Rankin: Ceo Of Predictive Insights & Stellenbosch University
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Prof Willem Boshoff: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Two competing approaches in South African competition policy: merger control and anti-cartel enforcement over the past 30 years"
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Professor Johan Fourie: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Economic History: TBC"
BER Weekly
25 Jul 2025 Budget hurdle cleared, but US tariff implementation remains a riskIt was another big week on the local political front, but with some constructive momentum. On the trade front, ahead of next week’s 1 August deadline, Trump announced another “massive” trade deal with Japan. The upcoming week is busy, with a slew of global and domestic data releases and several monetary policy decisions, including the SARB....
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