Wearable air quality sensing: a field experiment on the economics of personal air quality exposure information

Speaker: Professor Timo Goeschl, Professor of Environmental Economics, Alfred Weber Institute for Economics, University of Heidelberg

Part of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) Seminar Series https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/c-eenrg/page/ceenrg-seminar-series

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Abstract: A revolution is taking place in how we engage with air quality (AQ). Technology, economics, and shifts in preferences are driving the adoption of low-cost AQ sensors by citizens, changing who measures what where and whether that AQ data becomes publicly available. Here, we focus on wearable AQ sensors (WAQS), which enable consumer adopters to track personal real-time pollution levels and could help communities, policy-makers, and researchers better assess human exposure to harmful pollutants. We partner with a leading manufacturer to conduct a field experiment in the United States to study demand, use, and impacts among real-world consumers of this technology. A point-of-sale survey and pricing experiment show that willingness to pay is low compared to market prices, and advantaged groups dominate among those interested in and purchasing sensors. We use naturally occurring pollution variation to show that unhealthy pollution episodes trigger new adoptions. While detailed statistics document a substantial decline in user activity in the months after adoption, pollution episodes also lead to upticks in user activity. Follow-up data suggests that adopters believe they are exposed to less pollution and seek air quality information less from other sources but do not change how often they take defensive action. Our results have implications for air quality awareness and sensor deployment initiatives, pollution monitoring systems, and for the question of equitable access to environmental information.

Bio: Timo Goeschl (PhD, Economics, University of Cambridge) is Professor of Environmental Economics in the Department of Economics (Alfred Weber-Institute) at Heidelberg University and Director of the Research Center for Environmental Economics. Before coming to Heidelberg, Timo was Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and a Research Fellow at University College London. He was educated at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Innsbruck. Timo is a Research Associate at the Centre for European Economic Research - ZEW in Mannheim and has been serving in editorial roles at the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and Environmental and Resource Economics. His research has been published both in general economics (e.g. Management Science, Journal of the European Economic Association) and top field journals (e.g. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management).