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Trial Title
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Before
Indoor Air Pollution and Worker Productivity
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After
Effect of air cleaners on labor supply and productivity: Experimental evidence from Bogotá
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Trial Status
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Before
in_development
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After
on_going
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Abstract
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Before
Observational studies have documented a negative effect of air pollution on the productivity of workers engaged in both cognitive and physical tasks in both outdoor and indoor settings. These studies typically rely on air pollution data from outdoor municipal monitoring stations along with fixed effects and/or instrumental variable econometric models. We will use a randomized controlled trial to identify the effect of air pollution on both labor productivity and absences in an indoor setting. We will use air quality monitors installed in the workplace to measure indoor air pollution and air purifiers to improve air quality in randomly selected workplace locations such as buildings, floors of buildings, or rooms within buildings.
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After
To identify the effect of air cleaners on labor supply and productivity, we conduct a randomized controlled trial in Bogotá, Colombia, a city with poor air quality, that entails installing air cleaners in a randomly selected subsample call center work rooms. We use a series of sequential experiments to help disentangle the effects of air cleaners through air quality, air circulation, and psychological channels.
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Trial Start Date
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Before
May 01, 2023
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February 18, 2025
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Trial End Date
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Before
December 31, 2024
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July 31, 2027
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Last Published
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Before
March 13, 2023 03:03 PM
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After
February 24, 2025 05:31 PM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
In each work location in our study sample, we will install air quality monitors that measure levels of common air pollutants, particularly fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). In work locations assigned to the treatment, we will use air purifiers to reduce the level of air pollutants, particularly PM 2.5.
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After
The intervention entails installing air cleaners in the sample work rooms that are randomly assigned to the treatment.
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Intervention Start Date
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Before
May 01, 2023
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February 25, 2025
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Intervention End Date
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Before
December 31, 2024
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After
July 31, 2027
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) levels in workplace locations, worker productivity, worker absences
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After
Air quality
• mean pm2.5 (ug/m3). Average daily PM2.5 concentration.
• max pm2.5 (ug/m3). Maximum daily PM2.5 concentration.
Labor supply
• absenteeism. A binary dummy variable equal to one if the employee was absent from work.
Labor productivity
• excess break. A binary dummy variable equal to one if the employee exceeded their scheduled break by five or more minutes.
• calls per hour. The number of calls initiated per hour.
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
Data on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) will be collected by air quality monitors installed in workplace locations. Data on worker productivity and absences will be taken from firm-established administrative sources.
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After
Air quality will be measured at the work room-level using air quality monitors. Labor supply and labor productivity will be measured at the worker-level (versus work room-level) using administrative data provided by the participating call center firms.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
In a geographical setting with high levels of ambient air pollution, we will use a randomized controlled trial to test whether air purifiers improve indoor air quality in workplaces, and whether those improvements in turn, affect worker productivity and absences. We will use data from a survey of workers to, among other things, assess treatment effect heterogeneity.
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After
We will install air cleaners in a randomly selected subsample of 30 work rooms in four call center firms. Collectively these sample rooms house more than 3,000 employees. We will use a series of sequential experiments to help disentangle the effects of air cleaners on air quality, through air circulation, and psychological channels. We will use data from an original survey of workers to, among other things, assess treatment effect heterogeneity.
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Randomization Unit
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Before
Workplace locations such as buildings, floors of buildings, or rooms within buildings.
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After
Room
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Was the treatment clustered?
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Before
Yes
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After
No
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Planned Number of Clusters
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Before
The number of clusters (work locations such as buildings, floors of buildings, or rooms within buildings) will be determined based on partner firm characteristics.
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After
The sample is comprised of 30 rooms (clusters) in four firms.
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
Approximately1,000 individuals (depending on partner firm characteristics)
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After
The 30 sample rooms house approximately 3,000 workers.
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
Approximately one-half of the participants will be assigned to the control group (~500) and approximately one-half will be assigned to treatment group (~500).
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After
In each of the three experiments, approximately one-half of the clusters will be assigned to the treatment group (either T1, T2, or T3) and one-half to the pure control group.
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Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
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Before
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After
Minimum detectible effects are based on data from a pilot experiment conducted in two of the four participating firms
absenteeism: –5.4 percentage points = 32 percent of the control group mean; 18 percent of control goup standard deviation
pm2.5: –2.7 mg/m3 = 12 percent of control group mean; 76 percent of control group standard deviatio
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Additional Keyword(s)
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Before
air pollution, productivity
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After
air pollution, productivity, labor supply
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Keyword(s)
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Before
Environment And Energy
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After
Environment And Energy, Firms And Productivity, Labor
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Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
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After
Air cleaners could in principle affect labor outcomes in call centers through at least three channels.
i. Air quality. Considerable evidence indicates that PM2.5 adversely affects labor outcomes. Air cleaners could affect these outcomes by reducing PM2.5 concentrations.
ii. Air circulation. Most air cleaners, including those used in our experiment, function by using a fan to move air through a filter. By simply circulating air—i.e., acting as a simple floor-level fan—air cleaners could affect comfort levels in workspaces.
iii. Psychological/placebo effects. Because they are visible to call center workers, air cleaners could in principle have psychological (versus physical) effects on labor outcomes, for example, by signaling to employees that employers are concerned about their welfare and/or by leading some workers to believe that their workspace is ‘healthier’ apart from any actual effect on air quality.
To disentangle the air quality effects from air circulation and psychological/placebo effects, we employ three treatment arms and a pure control arm.
T1 Fully functioning air cleaners.
T2 Air cleaners with filters removed.
T3 Air cleaners with filters removed and fans disabled.
C Pure control.
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Did you obtain IRB approval for this study?
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Before
No
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After
Yes
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Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
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After
Labor supply
• turnover. A binary dummy variable equal to one if the worker’s employment was terminated.
Labor productivity
• sales per hour. The average number of sales per hour, used for employees engaged in sales.
• collection agreements per hour. The average number of debt collection agreements per hour, used for employees tasked with debt collection.
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Secondary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
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After
Labor supply and labor productivity will be measured at the worker-level (versus work room-level) using administrative data provided by the participating call center firms.
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Pi as first author
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Before
No
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Yes
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