미세먼지, 노동 생산성 하락에 영향 준다 Severe air pollution undermines worker productivity, study finds
Severe air pollution undermines worker productivity, study finds
By Veronica Cruz On January 3, 2019 7:17 pm Last updated January 7, 2019 7:35 pm
Researchers from the National University of Singapore found that severe air pollution affects work productivity negatively. Their study found that prolonged exposure to airborne pollutant particles undermines worker productivity in China.
Jiaxiu He, Haoming Liu, and Alberto Salvo wrote about their study and findings in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (citation below).
Air Pollution - Worker Productivity
In an Abstract that precedes the main article in the journal, the authors wrote: “We uncover statistically significant adverse output effects from more prolonged exposure, but effects are not large. A substantial +10 μg/m3 PM2.5 variation sustained over 25 days reduces daily output by 1%.” (Image: adapted from Wikipedia)
미세먼지, 노동 생산성 하락에 영향 준다 초미세먼지(PM2.5) 농도가 증가하면 노동자들의 생산성이 떨어진다는 연구 결과가 나왔다. 알베르토 살보 싱가포르국립대 경제학부 교수는 중국 노동자들의 생산성과 미세먼지 농도와의 상관관계를 비교한 결과 미세먼지 농도가 높아지면 생산성이 낮아진다는 연구결과를 이달 3일 국제학술지 ‘미국 경제 저널, 응용 경제학(American Economic Journal: Applied Economics)’에 발표했다. 연구팀은 노동자들의 생산성과 미세먼지 농도와의 관계를 보기 위해 2014년과 2015년 중국 허난성과 장수성에 있는 두 직물공장의 생산 정보를 분석했다. 두 공장은 노동자들이 제조한 직물량에 따라 월급을 받기 때문에 근로자들의 일일 생산성을 측정할 수 있다. 연구팀은 노동자의 일일 직물 생산량을 그 지역의 일일 초미세먼지(PM2.5) 농도 측정치와 비교했다. 지역 내 경제 활동과 같은 외부적 요인은 배제했다. 15일 미세먼지 비상저감조치가 처음으로 3일 연속 실시된 가운데 뿌연 서울 하늘의 모습. - 연합뉴스 분석 결과 PM2.5 농도가 평균보다 ㎥당 10마이크로그램(㎍) 증가한 날에 일한 노동자의 경우 일한 날이 25일 이상 누적되면 생산량이 1% 이상 감소하는 것으로 분석됐다. 해당 기간 동안 1000억원의 매출을 낼 수 있는 공장이라고 가정한다면 미세먼지 농도가 10㎍ 증가한 날이 25일 이상 지속될 경우 10억원의 매출이 줄어드는 셈이다. 다만 PM2.5 농도가 하루 동안 증가한다고 해서 노동자의 생산성이 급격히 하락하는 것은 아니었다. 연구팀은 이에 대해 "중국 소재 두 공장이 있는 곳의 대기 질이 기본적으로 좋지 않은 환경이기 때문"이라고 설명했다. 하루만에 드라마틱한 변화가 일어나기엔 대기오염이 워낙 만연해 있는 곳이라는 설명이다. 두 공장이 있는 지역의 연평균 PM2.5 농도는 ㎥당 85㎍ 정도로 한국 환경 기준인 ㎥당 15㎍의 약 6배에 달한다. 연구팀은 대기 질 사정이 중국보다 현저히 좋은 곳에서는 미세먼지의 생산성 저하 효과가 더 크게 나타날 수 있다고 설명했다. 이에 대한 근거로 2016년 미국 남가주대 마샬경영대학원 연구진은 캘리포니아주에서 배를 포장하는 노동자의 생산성을 분석한 결과 PM2.5 농도가 ㎥당 10㎍ 증가하면 생산성이 6% 낮아진다는 연구결과를 소개했다. 연구팀은 이를 토대로 "미국에 비해 중국의 노동자들이 훨씬 더 나쁜 대기 조건에서 일하며 환경에 적응한 측면이 있어 미세먼지와 생산성의 상관관계가 상대적으로 낮은 편"이라는 분석을 내놨다.  미세먼지 속에서 공사현장에서 인부들이 작업을 하고 있다. 연합뉴스 살보 교수는 “이 연구의 목표는 새로운 방식으로 대기오염에 대한 이해를 넓히는 것”이라며 “일반적으로 기업은 대기오염 규제가 완화되면 이익을 얻는다고 생각하나 오히려 생산성에 부정적인 영향을 미쳐 손해를 볼 수도 있다는 사실을 보여준다”고 말했다. 조승한 기자 shinjsh@donga.com 동아사이언스 |
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According to the authors:
“Most of us are familiar with the negative impact air pollution can have on health, but as economists, we wanted to look for other socioeconomic outcomes. Our aim with this research was to broaden the understanding of air pollution in ways that have not been explored.”
“We typically think that firms benefit from lax pollution regulations, by saving on emission control equipment and the like; here we document an adverse effect on the productivity of their workforce.”
Worker productivity refers to how much a worker produces per hour, day, week, or month. Let’s suppose, for example, that workers in a shirt factory produced an average of ten shirts per day each in 2018. In 2019, one year later, they produced eleven shirts each per day. Their productivity increased by 10%.
Pollution refers to the presence of substances in the environment that are toxic or harmful. We refer to the release of harmful substances and particulates into the atmosphere as air pollution.
Link between air pollution and worker productivity
The researchers spent more than a year gathering and analyzing data from factories in China. They interviewed managers of twelve companies in four different provinces.
They then obtained access to data from two factories, one in Jiangsu and the other in Henan.
Both factories were textile mills. Their workers were paid piece rate. In other words, their income depended on how many pieces of fabric they made. This made it easier for the researchers to examine daily records of worker productivity. Specifically, productivity during certain shifts.
The team compared worker productivity against measures of concentrations of particulate matter that workers were exposed to during their shift. In other words, they tried to determine whether air pollution might affect worker productivity.
The standard way of determining air pollution severity is to measure PM2.5 readings. PM2.5 refers to atmospheric PM (particulate matter) that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. 2.5 micrometers is about 3% of the diameter of a human hair.
Air quality in many emerging economies
Many people who live in emerging economies are exposed to particulate concentrations that public health authorities deem harmful. At the two factories, air pollution levels were consistently high. Even so, air pollution levels varied considerably from day to day.
In one location, PM2.5 levels averaged 85 micrograms per cubic meter. This was approximately seven times the US EPA’s safe limit. EPA stands for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Prolonged exposure undermined worker productivity
Interestingly, the researchers found that daily fluctuations in pollution levels did not immediately undermine worker productivity. This finding clashed with those of previous studies.
However, a definite decline in worker productivity was evident when they measured for more prolonged exposures. In this study, ‘more prolonged’ means up to thirty days. The authors say they were careful to control for regional economic activity and other confounding factors.
Liu Haoming, an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, said:
“We found that an increase in PM2.5, by 10 micrograms per cubic meter sustained over 25 days, reduces daily output by 1 percent, harming firms and workers. The effects are subtle but highly significant.”
The authors say they remain unsure about why productivity declines when pollution rises.
The Business Times
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Assoc. Prof. Liu said:
“High levels of particles are visible and might affect an individual’s well-being in a multitude of ways. Besides entering via the lungs and into the bloodstream, there could also be a psychological element.”
“Working in a highly polluted setting for long periods of time could affect your mood or disposition to work.”
Study data is open access
NUS says that all the data from this study is being made open access. In other words, other researchers will have free access to it.
Assoc Prof Salvo added:
“This was a key criterion for inclusion in our study. We wanted to share all the information we gathered so that other researchers may use it as well, hopefully adding to this literature’s long-run credibility. We saw no reason why data on anonymous workers at a fragmented industry could not be shared.”
Citation
He, Jiaxiu, Haoming Liu, and Alberto Salvo. 2019. “Severe Air Pollution and Labor Productivity: Evidence from Industrial Towns in China.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11 (1): 173-201. DOI: 10.1257/app.20170286.
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