Research Interests
My research interests involve the interaction between the environment and society. In particular, I am interested in how environmental conditions can have an impact upon peoples’ health and well-being over long time-horizons. Much of my research to date deals with natural disasters, as this is one area that I think necessitates non-trivial interdisciplinary research.
(Updated: August 2022)
Publications and Working Papers
“Up in smoke: California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires.” Michael Jerrett, Amir S. Jina, and Miriam E. Marlier. Environmental Pollution (2022): 119888.
Pre-analysis plan: “The value of forecasts: Experimental evidence from developing country agriculture“, Fiona Burlig, Amir Jina, Erin Kelley, Greg Lane, and Harshil Sahai. Accepted via pre-results review at Journal of Development Economics
“Valuing the global mortality consequences of climate change accounting for adaptation costs and benefits.” T.A. Carleton, A.S. Jina, M.T. Delgado, M. Greenstone, T. Houser, S.M. Hsiang, A. Hultgren, R.E. Kopp, K.E. McCusker, I.B. Nath, J. Rising, A. Rode, H.K. Seo, A. Viaene, J. Yuan, T. Zhang. The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2022).
- Research summary from Climate Impact Lab
- Excellent interactive article at Bloomberg
“Estimating a Social Cost of Carbon for Global Energy Consumption“ A. Rode, T. Carleton, M.T. Delgado, M. Greenstone, T. Houser, S.M. Hsiang, A. Hultgren, A. Jina, R.E. Kopp, K.E. McCusker, I.B. Nath, J. Rising, J. Yuan. Nature 598, 308–314 (2021).
- Research summary from Climate Impact Lab
- Selected coverage: Gizmodo, Bloomberg
“ENSO drives child undernutrition in the global tropics“ J.K. Anttila-Hughes, A.S. Jina, G.C. McCord. Nature Communications 12, 5785 (2021).
- Research summary from Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago
- Selected coverage: The Hill, France24, Yahoo! News, RFI News, Sveriges Radio (Sweden’s Radio), Phys.org, Physics Today
“Inequality and the Biosphere.“ (with Beijer Young Scholars) Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 43 (2018): 61-83.
“Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States“. S. Hsiang*, R. Kopp*, A. Jina*, J. Rising*, M. Delgado, S. Mohan, DJ Rasmussen, R. Muir-Wood, P. Wilson, M. Oppenheimer, K. Larsen, and T. Houser, Science 356(6345): 1362–1369 (2017).
- Press release from University of Chicago
- Commentary in Science by Billy Pizer (Duke University)
- Selected coverage (general press): New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financial Times, Newsweek, TIME, The Atlantic, Forbes, Grist, Buzzfeed, Le Monde, Xinhua, Huffington Post, NPR, Business Insider, USA Today, CBS News
- Selected coverage (science and climate press): Climate Central, Inside Climate News, Project Earth, Scientific American, Popular Science, Science/AAAS, PhysOrg.com, ScienceNews, IFLScience, E&E News
- Excellent visualisation and discussion from the Associated Press.
- Favourite quotes: “This is like the adults entering the room.” –Gernot Wagner in The Atlantic.
“The Causal Effects of Environmental Catastrophe on Economic Growth: Evidence from 6,700 tropical cyclones“. Hsiang, S.M. and A.S. Jina, NBER Working Paper no. 20352 (Revision requested at Journal of Political Economy).
- Press release from UC, Berkeley
- Coverage: The Atlantic (reprinted in Mother Jones, Grist), The Economist (and a previous mention here), Climate Central, Wall Street Journal, Marginal Revolution, Business Insider, Daily Californian, National Review
- Winner of the Quartz “chart of the year“
“Extreme Air Pollution in Global Megacities“. Marlier, M.E., A.S. Jina, R.S. DeFries & P.L. Kinney, Current Climate Change Reports 2(1):15-27. (2016).
“Satellites, Self-reports, and Submersion: Exposure to Floods in Bangladesh“. Guiteras, R.P., A.S. Jina, A.S. Jina, A.M. Mobarak, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105(5): 232-36 (2015).
- IGC and MPRC working paper available.
“Geography, Depreciation, and Growth“. Hsiang, S.M. and A.S. Jina, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105(5): 252-56.(2015).
“American Climate Prospectus: Economic Risks in the United States“. T. Houser, R. Kopp, S.M. Hsiang, M. Delgado, A.S. Jina, K. Larsen, M. Mastrandrea, S. Mohan, R. Muir-Wood, DJ Rasmussen, J. Rising, P. Wilson. Columbia University Press (2015).
- Press release from UC, Berkeley
- Coverage: Bloomberg, New York Times (also), Wall Street Journal, Financial Times (also), Forbes, Reuters, TIME, Washington Post, National Geographic, NPR (also), 400+ other outlets.
“Smallholder farmer cropping decisions related to climate variability across multiple regions“. Wood, S., A.S. Jina, M. Jain, R.S. DeFries, P. Kristjanson. Global Environmental Change. 25 (2014). (html)
“Biophysical and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Forest Transitions at Multiple Spatial and Temporal Scales“. Jain, M., C.B. Yackulic, M. Fagan, A.S. Jina, Y. Lim, M. Marlier, R. Muscarella, P. Adame, R.S. DeFries, M. Uriarte. Ecology and Society. 16(3) (2011). (html)
Ongoing Projects
“Backfiring peer effects in environmental policy: Experimental evidence from waste management in India.” A. Jina, K. Lee, S. Lee, A. Sudarshan. In preparation.
“Experimentally assessing cool roofs in low-income developing country community” A. Agarwal, M. Greenstone, A. Jina, A. Sudarshan. In preparation.
“Temperature variability changes due to climate change alter magnitude and distribution of climate impacts.” K. Schwarzwald, M. Haugen, E. Moyer, M. Stein, A. Jina. In preparation.
“Labor Disutility in a Warmer World: The Impact of Climate Change on the Global Workforce” (with A. Rode, R.E. Baker, T. Carleton, A.L. D’Agostino, M. Delgado, T. Foreman, M. Greenstone, T. Houser, S. Hsiang, A. Hultgren, R. Kopp, K. McCusker, I. Nath, M. Pecenco, J. Rising, J. Yuan)
“Estimating Global Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change Accounting for Adaptation” (with A. Hultgren, T. Carleton, M. Delgado, D. Gergel, M. Greenstone, T. Houser, S. Hsiang, R. Kopp, K. McCusker, S.B. Malevich, T. Mayer, I. Nath, J. Rising, A. Rode J. Yuan)
“The Long-term Impacts of Flooding on Human Capital Formation in Bangladesh” (with Raymond Guiteras and A. Mushfiq Mobarak)
“The origin and fate of marine plastic pollution” (with Kimberly Oremus, Anna Papp, Nandini Ramesh)
“The Social Cost of Locusts” (with Eyal Frank, Josephine Gatois, Evelina Linnros, Gordon McCord, Anouch Missirian, Anna Tompsett)