Influenza and air pollution each pose significant public health risks with large global economic consequences. The common pathways through which each harms health presents an interesting case of compounding risk via interacting externalities. Using instrumental variables based on changing wind...

Medical experts have argued forcefully that using cigarettes harms health, prompting the adoption of myriad anti-smoking policies. The association between smoking and mortality may, however, be driven by unobserved factors, making it difficult to discern the underlying long-term causal...

Increased temperature-related mortality is predicted to be one of the largest contributors to future economic damages from climate change globally, with declines in cold-related deaths in some regions outweighed by increases in heat-related deaths in others. Changes in temperature could also...