UC Santa Cruz

This dissertation examines how public policy and infrastructure shape environmental quality, local economic activity, governance, and health. Across three chapters, it combines spatial data, village-level survey evidence, and quasi-experimental research designs to study the effects of environmental and infrastructure policies in Indonesia and India. The first chapter studies the environmental consequences of China’s 2018 National Sword policy, which restricted waste imports and redirected large volumes of plastic waste toward Southeast Asia. Global plastic waste generation has increased significantly over the past two decades, while recycling rates have remained low, and high-income countries continue to export low-quality waste to countries with limited processing capacity. Using spatial and temporal variation in exposure to waste pollution, this chapter estimates the causal effect of increased plastic inflows on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) across Indonesia. The analysis integrates satellite-derived pollution data, machine-learning-identified waste sites, wind direction, and international trade records. Difference-in-differences estimates for non-fire seasons show that post-policy PM2.5 concentrations increased by approximately 5% to 10% within 3 km of waste sites, with effects diminishing rapidly over distance. Wind direction and proximity to waste-receiving ports further amplify these effects. The findings provide evidence of cross-border pollution leakage from international waste trade and highlight the need for coordinated global policy responses.The second and third chapters, coauthored with Santosh Kumar Gautam and Ariel Zucker, study India’s Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the world’s largest rural-road program. Both chapters use a novel village-level survey designed around the program’s rollout and a new instrument for road connectivity: a village’s population rank among other unconnected villages in its district.The second chapter asks whether connecting rural villages to road networks pulls resources away from villages or strengthens local economies and governing institutions. Roads appear to support agricultural markets, raising staple-crop prices by 1.3 standard deviations and diversifying agricultural output. They also support nonagricultural markets, as casual labor gains primacy over agriculture. Yet increases in casual labor are concentrated within connected villages, while an index of migration falls by 0.8 standard deviations. Roads also strengthen local governance: an index of government visits rises by 1.1 standard deviations and political engagement increases by 0.9 standard deviations. Higher wages on government construction projects and lower prices at government ration shops are also consistent with reduced corruption. Rather than draining villages of workers, rural roads contribute to more vibrant local economies and stronger governing institutions.The third chapter examines the effect of rural-road connectivity on child health and access to health services. Exploiting quasi-random variation in road placement, the analysis finds that motorable-road access reduces the child mortality index by 1.13 standard deviations and under-five mortality by 5.0 percentage points. Road connectivity also improves access to frontline health workers, increasing the health-worker access index by 0.50 standard deviations. There is limited evidence that these gains are driven by shorter travel times to health facilities or greater use of institutional delivery, suggesting instead that roads may improve child survival by helping health workers reach remote villages.