The Impact of Household Fuel Use for Cooking on Residents' Cognitive Abilities in China

Abstract

This paper investigates the impacts of household use of solid fuels for cooking on cognitive ability in adults older than 16 years. We match the individual data from a nationally representative longitudinal survey of Chinese Family Panel Studies in 2010, 2014 and 2018, and outdoor air pollution in China by the exact time and geographic locations of cognitive ability tests. We use unbalanced panel fixed effect models to examine the impacts of household fuel use for cooking on cognitive ability, and panel instrumental variable method to address potential endogenous concerns associated with household use of solid fuel for cooking and cognitive ability. We find that household use of solid fuels for cooking significantly decreases mathematical cognitive ability rather than verbal cognitive ability. We also find that daily housework length and expenditures on culture, education, and recreation are two underlying mechanisms through which household use of solid fuels for cooking affects mathematical cognitive ability. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the negative effect of household use of solid fuels for cooking on mathematical cognitive ability becomes more pronounced among middle-aged and elderly people, for females, and for people who lived in southern China. Finally, exercise reduces the negative effects of household use of solid fuels for cooking on cognitive ability. These findings are new compared to the existing literature.