Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental and public health emergencies that the world is currently facing. Exposure to air pollutants, such as particulate matter, can have detrimental effects on health, cognition, and can also affect human behaviour. This can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, premature death, and also to other negative economic consequences such as lower educational outcomes, higher crime rates, and reduced labour productivity.

Our group of LSE-based economists and behavioral scientists analyses various complex aspects of the economics of air pollution (ambient and indoor), including the costs of air pollution, the health and well-being impacts of pollution, policy solutions and effectiveness, and the implications for inequality to better understand how to make progress in reducing the harms from air pollution.

Our group produces world leading academic research and is also available to advise and support policy makers at the local, national, and international level. 

Featured links

Camden Household Air Monitoring Project

Selected Research Publications


Selected Research Working Papers

Making the invisible visible: the impact of revealing indoor air pollution on behavior and welfareGrantham Research Institute (LSE) Working Paper 422, 2025

Carbon pricing with regressive co-benefits: evidence from British Columbia’s carbon tax Grantham Research Institute (LSE) Working Paper 405, 2023

Disparities in pollution capitalization rates: the role of direct & systemic discrimination Grantham Research Institute (LSE) Working Paper 392, 2023

Air pollution and respiratory infectious diseases IZA Working Paper 15947, 2023

High levels of air pollution reduce team innovation Working Paper, 2022

Congestion pricing, air pollution, and individual-level behavioural responses Grantham Research Institute (LSE) Working Paper 362, 2021

Do healthy home checklists nudge people to test their home for radon? Evidence from a randomised control trial Grantham Research Institute (LSE) Working Paper 347, 2020

The economic cost of air pollution: Evidence from Europe OECD Working Paper 1584, 2019

Selected Policy Publications

The benefits of Clean Air Act regulations need to be measured carefully CEPR VoxEU, 2022

Pollution, the Flu Shot, and Hospitalizations Econofact, 2021

Air Pollution in Mongolia: Opportunities for further Actions UNDP, 2019

Air pollution, educational achievements, and human capital formation IZA, 2017


Project team

Co-leads

LSE PhD Students

Antonio Avila-Uribe

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