Cell Phone Apps Provide Info on Air Pollution

Cell Phone Apps Provide Info on Air Pollution

New work led by Rema Hanna in Mexico is investigating the market for cell phone apps that provide people with information on how to protect themselves from the hazards of polluted air.

New work led by Rema Hanna in Mexico is investigating the market for cell phone apps that provide people with information on how to protect themselves from the hazards of polluted air.

In this project, Rema Hanna and co-PI Paulina Oliva continue research from their 2015 study on the impact of pollution on health and labor market decisions using data from Mexico. In that study, they exploited exogenous variation in pollution due to the closure of a large refinery in Mexico City to understand how pollution impacts labor supply. The closure led to an 8 percent decline in pollution in the surrounding neighborhoods. They found that a one percent increase in sulfur dioxide results in a 0.61 percent decrease in the hours worked. The effects do not appear to be driven by labor demand shocks nor differential migration as a result of the closure in the areas located near the refinery.