Dust to Dust: Tracing Air Pollution’s Impact on Work Accidents
with
Benjamin Hattemer
R&R Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
Details
This study provides causal estimates of the effect of air pollution on workplace safety using data on the universe of work accidents reported in Spain (2010-2019). We focus on a near-worldwide natural source of air pollution: mineral dust precipitation. Our estimates reveal dust precipitation marginal effects and overall burden on workplace safety are of the same order of magnitude as those of high temperatures. Impacts are widespread, spanning most worker and accident characteristics, and consistent with dust inducing human error across diverse tasks and activities. However, we find null effects for workers at the top quintile of the wage distribution.
Presented at: 24th EAERE Annual Conference, KU Leuven; 39th AIEL Conference, University of Naples Federico II; 10th Atlantic Workshop on Energy and Environmental Economics; Workshop on the Environment, Climate Change and Disasters, Gran Sasso Science Institute; 2nd Young AERNA Day, University of Girona; 1st International Conference of the Georgian Economic Association; Microeconometrics Working Group, EUI; Norges Bank; Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union