Research Insights: How Does Exposure to High Concentrations of Air Pollution Affect Daily Labor Supply, and Do These Effects Differ Across the Income Distribution?

On days with high pollution, workers reduce their labor supply, with highincome workers decreasing hours worked more than low-income workers. Workers partially compensate for lost hours of work on high-pollution days by increasing labor supply on subsequent days, and this intertemporal adjustment is more pronounced among high-income workers. When high pollution persists across days, the response to contemporaneous pollution decreases, with low-income workers reducing their response quicker than high-income workers.