Equation (8) shows that the cost of illness caused by the contaminated air can be
grouped into five categories. The term direct disutility is very subjective and it is
very difficult to find its monetary value. The second term, the lost work productivity, measures the value of loss caused by the illness due to lower work productivity. This loss is caused when the sick person is present for work but is not
able to work with his/her full productivity. The third term measures the loss in
social welfare due to illness absence of individuals from work. The last two terms
measure the expenses individual have to incur for defensive and mitigating activities due to contamination of air quality. In rural areas during survey we could not
get figures on the defensive activities of individuals; therefore, we measure only
two values: medical expenses and value of lost time during illness. Thus our
measure of social loss due to contaminated air provides the lower bound of the
value.
4.2 Estimation Strategy
To get the estimates of social welfare loss due to contaminated air in terms of health
damages, we estimate the following two equations consisting of demand function
for medical expenses (mS) and the workdays lost due to illness (S):
mS ¼ a 0 þ a 1 SPM þ a 2 SO 2 þ a 3 SMOKING þ a 4 DRINKING þ a 5 PerCapitaAssets
þ a 6 SEX þ a 7 AGE þ a 8 EDUCATION þ a 9 OCCUPATION þ e 1
ð9Þ
and
S ¼ a 0 þ a 1 SPM þ a 2 SMOKING þ a 3 DRINKING þ a 4 PerCapitaAssets þ a 5 SEX
þ a 6 AGE þ a 7 EDUCATION þ a 8 OCCUPATION þ e 2
ð10Þ
where
Medical Expenses (mS): Mitigating activities or medical expenses include expenses
incurred as a result of air pollution-related diseases. These expenditures include
costs of medicine (formal as well informal), doctor’s fee, diagnostic tests, hospitalization, and travel to doctor’s clinic during the two rice harvesting months.
Workdays Lost (S): S represent the number of workdays lost per person during the
two rice harvesting months of October and November due to diseases/symptoms
associated with air pollution.
Particulate matter (PM 10 ) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ): These are the averages of the
ambient emission levels observed during the monitoring period measured in µg/m
3 .
304
S. Kumar and P. Kumar
grouped into five categories. The term direct disutility is very subjective and it is
very difficult to find its monetary value. The second term, the lost work productivity, measures the value of loss caused by the illness due to lower work productivity. This loss is caused when the sick person is present for work but is not
able to work with his/her full productivity. The third term measures the loss in
social welfare due to illness absence of individuals from work. The last two terms
measure the expenses individual have to incur for defensive and mitigating activities due to contamination of air quality. In rural areas during survey we could not
get figures on the defensive activities of individuals; therefore, we measure only
two values: medical expenses and value of lost time during illness. Thus our
measure of social loss due to contaminated air provides the lower bound of the
value.
4.2 Estimation Strategy
To get the estimates of social welfare loss due to contaminated air in terms of health
damages, we estimate the following two equations consisting of demand function
for medical expenses (mS) and the workdays lost due to illness (S):
mS ¼ a 0 þ a 1 SPM þ a 2 SO 2 þ a 3 SMOKING þ a 4 DRINKING þ a 5 PerCapitaAssets
þ a 6 SEX þ a 7 AGE þ a 8 EDUCATION þ a 9 OCCUPATION þ e 1
ð9Þ
and
S ¼ a 0 þ a 1 SPM þ a 2 SMOKING þ a 3 DRINKING þ a 4 PerCapitaAssets þ a 5 SEX
þ a 6 AGE þ a 7 EDUCATION þ a 8 OCCUPATION þ e 2
ð10Þ
where
Medical Expenses (mS): Mitigating activities or medical expenses include expenses
incurred as a result of air pollution-related diseases. These expenditures include
costs of medicine (formal as well informal), doctor’s fee, diagnostic tests, hospitalization, and travel to doctor’s clinic during the two rice harvesting months.
Workdays Lost (S): S represent the number of workdays lost per person during the
two rice harvesting months of October and November due to diseases/symptoms
associated with air pollution.
Particulate matter (PM 10 ) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ): These are the averages of the
ambient emission levels observed during the monitoring period measured in µg/m
3 .
304
S. Kumar and P. Kumar