This study explores the relationship between air pollution and judicial rulings. Although environmental factors should not affect judicial decisions, realists contend that there is substantial room for external factors to transpire into sentencing and sway human reasoning. We hypothesize that air pollution is one of these factors. Using Poisson panel models and instrumental variable techniques, we show that exposure leads to more convictions. We posit that this effect occurs because the impact of exposure on the central nervous system changes the cognitive performance and empathy of judges. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that decreasing average air pollution in India by one standard deviation would lead to up to 145,000 fewer convictions regarding currently active cases.

本研究探讨空气污染与司法裁决之间的关系。尽管环境因素不应影响司法判决，但现实主义者认为，外部因素有很大的空间影响量刑并影响人类推理。我们假设空气污染是这些因素之一。使用泊松面板模型和工具变量技术，我们表明暴露会导致更多的信念。我们假设这种效应的发生是因为暴露对中枢神经系统的影响改变了法官的认知表现和同理心。粗略计算表明，印度平均空气污染减少一个标准差将导致当前活跃案件的定罪人数减少多达 145,000 人。