Polluted Job Search: The Impact of Poor Air Quality on Reservation Wages

Mariët Bogaard*, Steffen Künn, Juan Palacios, Nico Pestel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Working paper / PreprintDiscussion paper

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of air pollution on reservation wages. We use rich survey data on unemployed job seekers in Germany and exploit variation in individual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM10) based on the quasi-random allocation of interview slots to individuals. Our results show that an increase in PM10 by one standard deviation (corresponding to 12 μg/m3) reduces the reservation wage by approximately 1.2%. We further provide evidence that PM10 pollution decreases job seekers’ search effort, risk tolerance and patience, which serve as potential mechanisms through which PM10 exposure negatively affects the reservation wage of unemployed job seekers.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationBonn
PublisherIZA - Institute for Labour Economics, Bonn
Number of pages37
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2024

Publication series

SeriesIZA Discussion Paper Series
Number17344
ISSN2365-9793

JEL classifications

  • q53 - "Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling"
  • j64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

Keywords

  • reservation wage
  • air pollution
  • job search

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