Valuation of Urban Air Pollution: A Case Study of Kanpur City in India

This study estimates the monetary benefits to individuals from health damages avoided if air pollution is reduced in the urban industrial city of Kanpur in India. A notable feature of this study is that it uses data from weekly health-diaries collected for three seasons. For measuring monetary benefits, the study considers two major components of health cost that is incurred due to adverse effects of air pollution on health i.e., the loss in wages due to workdays lost from work and the expenditure incurred on mitigating activities. The study estimates that a representative working individual from Kanpur would gain Rs. 165.47 per year if air pollution were reduced to a safe level. The extrapolated annual benefits for the entire population in the city are Rs. 224.55 million.