Center for Effective Global Action

We measure the impact of three components of air pollution on daily labor productivity in call centers in five Indian cities.  We find that a one standard deviation increase in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), a pollutant that has been the primary focus of the literature on the harms of air pollution, has a large negative effect of 0.15σ on productivity.  Notably, we find a comparable negative effect for a one standard deviation increase in carbon monoxide of 0.14σ as well as a negative effect of 0.09σ from ozone. In summing air pollution harms across our sample, carbon monoxide is responsible for more than half of the total productivity lost, which is more than double the losses attributable to PM_2.5. Our results underscore the importance of considering components of air pollution beyond particulate matter.  To that end, we illustrate the potential productivity impacts of a national policy in India that targets PM_2.5 compared to a counterfactual policy that also targets carbon monoxide and ozone.