This paper investigates the relationship between extreme temperature and online complaints to local government officials. We show that the number of complaints significantly increases by 11.1% on extremely hot days relative to the benchmark temperature. Such effect is most pronounced on the day...

We study the disguised pollution of industrial firms in China. We find that sulfur dioxide (SO2) readings increase by 15.9% in monitoring stations after sunset in high factory density areas, controlling for station-day and city-hour fixed effects. Physical inspections by the Ministry of...

This paper investigates the relationship between temperature and hospitalization in China. Using inpatient visit claims of two major public insurance schemes covering 47 cities in 28 provinces for three years, we see a 7.3% increase in hospital admissions on days on which the average temperature...

Utilizing a novel database of trip ticket bookings in China during 2017–2019, we examine whether people escape from pollution by traveling to “cleaner” places. We construct travel flows at the city-pair-reservation-date level. Combining IV with high-dimensional fixed effects, we find a...

Utilizing 1.5 million court judgment files in China during 2015–2018, we investigate the causal relationship between short-term air pollution exposure and crime rates in the context of the developing world. Using thermal inversion as the instrument for air pollution, we find that a 10 µg/m3...