Department of Economics, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
Department of Economics, Sogang University, 35 Baekbeom-ro (Sinsu-dong #1), Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04107, South Korea.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 May;28(20):25442-25459. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-12122-y. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
This study analyzes efficiency in the reduction of air pollutants and the associated healthcare costs using a stochastic frontier cost function panel data approach. For the empirical analysis, we use monthly data covering 25 districts in the Seoul metropolitan city of South Korea observed over the period January 2010 to December 2017. Our results show large variations in air pollution and healthcare costs across districts and over time and their efficiency in reducing air pollutants. The study concludes that efforts are needed to apply the World Health Organization's air quality standards for designing and implementing location-specific customized policies for improving the level of air quality and its equal distribution, provision of health services, and improved efficiency in improving air quality standards. The study identifies a number of determinants of air pollutants and efficiency enhancement which provide useful pointers for policymakers for addressing the current environmental problems in South Korea.
本研究采用随机前沿成本函数面板数据方法,分析了减少空气污染物和相关医疗保健成本的效率。在实证分析中,我们使用了 2010 年 1 月至 2017 年 12 月期间韩国首尔大都市 25 个区的月度数据。研究结果表明,各地区之间以及随着时间的推移,空气污染和医疗保健成本存在很大差异,以及它们在减少空气污染物方面的效率。研究得出结论,需要努力应用世界卫生组织的空气质量标准,为改善空气质量水平及其公平分配、提供卫生服务和提高改善空气质量标准的效率制定针对特定地点的定制政策。该研究确定了一些影响空气污染物和提高效率的因素,为政策制定者提供了有益的参考,以解决韩国当前的环境问题。