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Quiet please! Adverse effects of noise on child development

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Makles

    (Wuppertal Research Institute for the Economics of Education (WIB), University of Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal)

  • Kerstin Schneider

    (Wuppertal Research Institute for the Economics of Education (WIB), University of Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal and CESifo)

Abstract
Noise pollution is detrimental to health and to cognitive development of children. This is not only true for extreme levels of noise in the neighborhood of an airport but also to traffic noise in urban areas. Using a census of preschool children, we show that children who are exposed to intensive traffic noise significantly fall behind in terms of school readiness. Being exposed to additional 10 dB(A) compares to about 3 months in kindergarten. We contribute to the lit-erature and the policy debate by working with administrative data and focusing on everyday exposure to noise. The proposed method is easily applied to other regions. We assess the public costs of different abatement instruments and compare the costs to the benefits. It turns out that the commonly used abatement measures like quiet pavement or noise protection walls in densely populated areas of about 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants per km2 can be cost efficient, even with a conservative assessment of the benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Makles & Kerstin Schneider, 2016. "Quiet please! Adverse effects of noise on child development," Schumpeter Discussion Papers SDP16002, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp16002
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher R. Knittel & Douglas L. Miller & Nicholas J. Sanders, 2016. "Caution, Drivers! Children Present: Traffic, Pollution, and Infant Health," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 350-366, May.
    2. Sanderson, Eleanor & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "A weak instrument F-test in linear IV models with multiple endogenous variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 190(2), pages 212-221.
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    6. repec:bri:uobdis:15/644 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jürges, Hendrik & Makles, Anna M. & Naghavi, Arash & Schneider, Kerstin, 2022. "Melting pot kindergarten: The effect of linguistic diversity in early education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    2. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Paul, Alexander & Reinhold, Steffen, 2018. "Economic Conditions, Parental Employment and Health of Newborns," IZA Discussion Papers 11338, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Cohen, Jeffrey P. & Coughlin, Cletus C. & Crews, Jonas, 2019. "Traffic noise in Georgia: Sound levels and inequality," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 150-165.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Noise; child development; early education; abatement; abatement costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

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