Environmental Health Risks and Individual Lung Health Trajectories

This interdisciplinary workshop reviews and further develops new research on behavioral responses to environmental risks and accelerated lifecycle declines in lung health. Patients suffering from chronic lung disease who live in areas with high air pollution face the risk of an accelerated decline in lung health, impairing their physical and mental capacity, social relationships and productivity in the work place. They may seek to move to a new area with better air quality. But moving may come with monetary and non-monetary costs, such as search for a new job, loss of career, friends and children’s educational opportunities. For patients with low socio-economic status, monetary costs alone may be prohibitive. Moreover, competition for residences in areas with good air may drive up real estate prices and ration access by income class. NAKO, SOEP, GREIX and other data are used to study these issues, identify drivers of individual behavior, estimate the welfare loss from air pollution in Germany and test specific hypotheses with implications for health and environmental policies.

Please note that this workshop can be attended by invitation only.