Effect of oil spills on infant mortality in Nigeria

The authors study how onshore oil spills affect neonatal and infant mortality by combining spatial data from the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor with Demographic and Health Surveys. They compare siblings born to the same mother, conceived before and after a nearby oil spill, to identify a causal effect.  The results show that nearby oil spills that occur before conception increase neonatal mortality by 38.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, which corresponds to an increase of around 100% on the sample mean.