Mental acuity is essential to productivity in most professions and possibly associated with indoor air quality. I examine this potential link using a sample of university final examination results from a British institution. To account for potential confounders, I exploit the panel structure of the data to estimate models with subject and student fixed effects. I find that exposure to elevated levels of particulate matter (PM 10) has a statistically and economically significant effect on test scores and long-term academic indicators that are potentially correlated with future career outcomes. Furthermore, I find that the effect is larger among male, high ability and STEM subgroups and is present at levels considerably lower than current EPA standards. The results suggest that a narrow focus on traditional health outcomes, such as hospitalization, may understate the true cost of pollution as indoor air quality also affects productivity.

Published Mar 1, 2016

Roth, S. (2016). The Contemporaneous Effect of Indoor Air Pollution on Cognitive Performance: Evidence from the UK *. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/.