While many studies in the medical literature documented causal relationships between air
pollution and negative health outcomes immediately following exposure, much less is known about
the long run health consequences of pollution exposure. Using the 1997 Indonesian forest fires
as a natural experiment, we estimate the long term effects of air pollution on health outcomes.
We take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), which
collects detailed individual data on a multitude of health outcomes, in both 1997 and 2007. We
find significant negative effects of pollution, which persist in the long run. Men and the elderly
are impacted the most, while children seem to recover almost completely from these early shocks.