TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Chang, Tom
AU  - Zivin, Joshua Graff
AU  - Gross, Tal
AU  - Neidell, Matthew
        TI  - The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call-Center Workers in China
        PY  - 2016/Jun/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 10027
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp10027
        AB  - 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.
        KW  - productivity
KW  - pollution
        ER  -