The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call-Center Workers in China

Tom Chang (), Joshua Graff Zivin, Tal Gross and Matthew Neidell
Additional contact information
Tom Chang: University of Southern California

No 10027, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate the effect of pollution on worker productivity in the service sector by focusing on two call centers in China. Using precise measures of each worker's daily output linked to daily measures of pollution and meteorology, we find that higher levels of air pollution decrease worker productivity by reducing the number of calls that workers complete each day. These results manifest themselves at commonly found levels of pollution in major cities throughout the developing and developed world, suggesting that these types of effects are likely to apply broadly. When decomposing these effects, we find that the decreases in productivity are explained by increases in time spent on breaks rather than the duration of phone calls. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that the negative impacts of pollution on productivity extend beyond physically demanding tasks to indoor, white-collar work.

Keywords: productivity; pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J22 J24 Q51 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-eff and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Published - published in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2019, 11 (1), 151-172

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call Center Workers in China (2019)
Working Paper: The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call-Center Workers in China (2016)
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