The Silver Lining of Rust Belt Manufacturing Decline
利用空气质量和县级制造业数据，量化各行业污染强度，评估锈带城市制造业衰退带来的环境改善及其经济价值。
Between 1969 and 1996 manufacturing employment declined by 32.9% in the Rust Belt, leading to severe dislocations in cities specialized in manufacturing. However, one silver lining of reduced manufacturing activity is improved environmental quality. This paper exploits a unique merger of air quality and county manufacturing data to quantify manufacturing's pollution intensity by industry and then uses these estimates to judge which Rust Belt cities experienced large environmental improvements. It uses valuation estimates to assess the economic magnitude of the pollution reduction.