The Effect of air pollution on labor supply across gender

Abstract

This paper investigates whether air pollution affects labor supply by exploiting a labor supply-air quality matched panel data on particulate matter (PM) and working hours in South Korea from 2010 to 2016. Using fixed effects panel regression, I find that working hours of individuals are not responsive to the level of PM concentration in general. However, the subgroup analysis reveals that women are responsive to a reduction in working hours if they have young children aged between 0 and 3. Given the epidemiological evidence of children’s relative susceptibility to air pollution, caregiving of the vulnerable dependents is suggested as a channel through which air pollution affects labor supply.