Wildfires and Agricultural Worker Movement

Goeun Lee and Timothy K. M. Beatty

Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025, vol. 12, issue 6, 1459 - 1492

Abstract: We study the effect of wildfire smoke on farmworker labor outcomes in California. Using high-frequency individual-location data, we find that labor declines at both the extensive and intensive margins on days when fields are affected by wildfire smoke. On smoky days, the number of workers in a field is reduced by 17.51% and working hours are reduced by 23.12%, relative to days without smoke. Estimated effects are largest for labor-intensive crops. Farmworkers are more likely to be observed in a field immediately before smoke events and less likely to be observed after. They are also more likely to work in other fields when their primary worksite is treated. Results highlight the significant effects of wildfire smoke on farmworker labor outcomes, showing reductions in work activities and the adoption of substitution behaviors among a marginalized and hard-to-survey group.

Date: 2025
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