Rural Straw Burning and Its External Impacts on Urbanites' Happiness in China

This study examines the impact of cross-regional pollution from rural straw burning on the happiness of urban residents. Specifically, we investigate how drifting particulate matter from straw burning, which travels far from its source, influences the well-being of those in affected urban areas. By combining high-resolution satellite data on agricultural fires with self-reported happiness data, we estimate that a one-standard-deviation increase in agricultural fires—measured by the number of upwind fire points, fire intensity (proxied by brightness temperature), and fire radiative power—reduces happiness by approximately 0.099, 0.098, and 0.079 points on the CES-D scale, respectively. Using the pollution decay function, we further quantify the contribution of straw burning to urban particulate matter (PM_2.5) levels and explore the channels through which PM_2.5 exposure diminishes happiness, including both objective and subjective factors. From an economic perspective, a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the implied welfare losses may exceed current government spending on straw management. These findings highlight the high social and economic costs of agricultural fires and underscore the urgent need for coordinated policy responses in agriculture-dependent developing economies experiencing similar challenges.