The Effect of Air Pollution on Cognitive Performance. Evidence from Brain Training Exercises

A broad economic literature investigates the effect of air pollution on human health outcomes such as infant mortality and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However, pollution affects us in many ways beyond these outcomes. One aspect which has drawn attention from researchers in recent years is labor productivity. Empirical evidence shows that workers are less productive when air quality is bad. I estimate the effect of air pollution on cognitive performance. Therefore, this research project sheds light on the main channel through which pollution affects labor productivity in cognitively demanding professions. Using a rich dataset with thousands of participants, I analyze the effect of air pollution on cognitive performance. To deal with endogeneity issues concerning pollution I apply an instrumental variable approach. The insight from my research contributes to a better understanding of the subtler ways in which pollution has an impact on human health.