Experts have calculated the cost of pollution in China for years, weighing the drag on productivity from medical costs, factory closures and traffic restrictions. Now economists say they know exactly how much consumers are willing to pay to clean their own air.

Chinese consumers are willing to pay $5.46 on average to remove each microgram of pollutant per cubic meter of air, according a new paper by environmental economists Koichiro Ito from the University of Chicago and Shuang Zhang of the University of Colorado at Boulder. That works out to spending about $213 over five years, according to their study tracking air purifier buying habits in 81 Chinese cities over seven years.

Pollution in Beijing and other large cities regularly triggers health warnings and occasionally soars to “hazardous” levels when particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — PM2.5 — reach concentrations above 250 micrograms per cubic meter. The study reflects rising concern about breathing clean air as shown by more purchases of air purifiers, many of them imported, by wealthy and increasingly middle-class consumers.

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Areas of Focus: Environment
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Environment
Producing and using energy damages people’s health and the environment. EPIC research is quantifying the social costs of energy choices and uncovering policies that help protect health while facilitating growth.
Air Pollution
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Air Pollution
Air pollution from fossil fuel combustion poses a grave threat to human health worldwide. EPIC research is using real-world data to calculate the effects of air pollution on human health...
EPIC-China
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EPIC-China
China is indisputably critical to addressing the global energy challenge. China is one of the world’s biggest economies, its top carbon emitter, and among its most polluted countries. Yet, China...
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Air Pollution
Definition
Air Pollution
Air pollution from fossil fuel combustion poses a grave threat to human health worldwide. EPIC research is using real-world data to calculate the effects of air pollution on human health...