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Indoor Air Quality and Cognitive Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Künn, Steffen

    (Maastricht University)

  • Palacios, Juan

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Pestel, Nico

    (Maastricht University)

Abstract

This paper studies the causal impact of indoor air quality on the cognitive performance of individuals using data from official chess tournaments. We use a chess engine to evaluate the quality of moves made by individual players and merge this information with measures of air quality inside the tournament venue. The results show that poor indoor air quality hampers cognitive performance significantly. We find that an increase in the indoor concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by 10 μg/m3 increases a player's probability of making an erroneous move by 26.3%. The impact increases in both magnitude and statistical significance with rising time pressure. The effect of the indoor concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) is smaller and only matters during phases of the game when decisions are taken under high time stress. Exploiting temporal as well as spatial variation in outdoor pollution, we provide evidence suggesting a short-term and transitory effect of fine particulate matter on cognition.

Suggested Citation

  • Künn, Steffen & Palacios, Juan & Pestel, Nico, 2019. "Indoor Air Quality and Cognitive Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 12632, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12632
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    2. Nikolai Cook, Anthony Heyes, Nicholas Rivers, 2023. "Clean Air and Cognitive Productivity: Effect and Adaptation," LCERPA Working Papers bm0137, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis.
    3. Dainis Zegners & Uwe Sunde & Anthony Strittmatter, 2020. "Decisions and Performance Under Bounded Rationality: A Computational Benchmarking Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 8341, CESifo.
    4. Luis Sarmiento & Adam Nowakowski, 2023. "Court Decisions and Air Pollution: Evidence from Ten Million Penal Cases in India," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(3), pages 605-644, November.
    5. Clara Kögel, 2022. "The impact of air pollution on labour productivity in France," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22020, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    6. Pinchbeck, Edward W. & Roth, Sefi & Szumilo, Nikodem & Vanino, Enrico, 2020. "The Price of Indoor Air Pollution: Evidence from Radon Maps and the Housing Market," IZA Discussion Papers 13655, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Persico, Claudia L. & Johnson, Kathryn R., 2020. "Deregulation in a Time of Pandemic: Does Pollution Increase Coronavirus Cases or Deaths?," IZA Discussion Papers 13231, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Künn, Steffen & Seel, Christian & Zegners, Dainis, 2020. "Cognitive Performance in the Home Office - Evidence from Professional Chess," IZA Discussion Papers 13491, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Edward W. Pinchbeck & Sefi Roth & Nikodem Szumilo & Enrico Vanino, 2023. "The Price of Indoor Air Pollution: Evidence from Risk Maps and the Housing Market," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(6), pages 1439-1473.
    10. Felix Bracht & Dennis Verhoeven, 2021. "Air pollution and innovation," CEP Discussion Papers dp1817, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Matthew E. Kahn & Nancy Lozano‐Gracia & Maria Edisa Soppelsa, 2021. "Pollution'S Role In Reducing Urban Quality Of Life In The Developing World," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 330-347, February.
    12. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    13. Gabriele Curci & Domenico Depalo & Alessandro Palma, 2023. "The Dirtier You Breathe, The Less Safe You Are. The Effect of Air Pollution on Work Accidents," CEIS Research Paper 554, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 24 May 2023.
    14. Pham, Linh & Roach, Travis, 2023. "Particulate pollution and learning," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Pestel, Nico & Wozny, Florian, 2021. "Health effects of Low Emission Zones: Evidence from German hospitals," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cognition; indoor air quality; worker productivity; chess;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

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