Air pollution and cognitive performances
Résumé
The adverse health impacts of air pollution have been subject of much research and provide
the usual rationale for policy interventions in this area. It is only recently being recognized
that polluted air might also imply direct economic costs by reducing labor productivity. Recent
studies show that that short-term exposure to ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM2:5)
signi cantly reduces the daily productivity of unskilled workers engaged in physical work (fruit
picking and packing). However, most work - and in particular most high value work - in a
modern economy is based on mental-dexterity, often with little or no physical dimension (e.g.
lawyers, administrators, teachers, nanciers, computer programmers). Thus, there is a strong
interest in studying the impact of pollution on cognitive performances. We take advantage of
the design of the US HRS survey (respondents are interviewed every two years over 12 years)
to study this relationship. We nd that exposure to PM2:5 at the WHO recommended daily
pollution limit reduces performances by 2.5%. When we focus on respondents living in low
value houses on highly polluted day this e ect even climbs to 12%, suggesting that air pollution
might even strenghen economic inequality.