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Clouded Minds: Air Pollution and Student Cognitive Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Ferro
  • Elena Meschi
  • Caterina Pavese

Abstract

We estimate the causal effect of air pollution on primary school students' cognitive performance in Italy, exploiting daily within-municipality variation in pollution across exam dates. Using INVALSI administrative data on the universe of students over ten cohorts and a specification with individual fixed effects, we find that a 10 μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 reduces test scores by 4.4% of a standard deviation. Effects are concentrated in reasoning-intensive items, with no significant effect on knowledge-based items, are stronger for lower-achieving and emotionally vulnerable students, and are substantially mitigated by school mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning systems. These results highlight the cognitive costs of short-term pollution exposure and the potential of targeted infrastructure investments to reduce environmental inequality in education.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Ferro & Elena Meschi & Caterina Pavese, 2026. "Clouded Minds: Air Pollution and Student Cognitive Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 12738, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12738
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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