Particulate Pollution and the Productivity of Pear Packers

Tom Chang, Joshua S. Graff Zivin, Tal Gross, Matthew J. Neidell

NBER Working Paper No. 19944
Issued in February 2014
NBER Program(s):Environment and Energy Economics, Health Care, Health Economics, Labor Studies

We study the effect of outdoor air pollution on the productivity of indoor workers at a pear-packing factory. We focus on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a harmful pollutant that easily penetrates indoor settings. We find that an increase in PM2.5 outdoors leads to a statistically and economically significant decrease in packing speeds inside the factory, with effects arising at levels well below current air quality standards. In contrast, we find little effect of PM2.5 on hours worked or the decision to work, and little effect of pollutants that do not travel indoors, such as ozone. This effect of outdoor pollution on the productivity of indoor workers suggests a thus far overlooked consequence of pollution. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that nationwide reductions in PM2.5 from 1999 to 2008 generated $19.5 billion in labor cost savings, which is roughly one-third of the total welfare benefits associated with this change.

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Acknowledgments and Disclosures

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Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w19944

Published: Tom Chang & Joshua Graff Zivin & Tal Gross & Matthew Neidell, 2016. "Particulate Pollution and the Productivity of Pear Packers," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol 8(3), pages 141-169. citation courtesy of

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