Clean Air and Cognitive Productivity: Effect and Adaptation

We observe 1.8 million university course grades for 88,959 adults who learn and complete examinations in a much less polluted environment than previously studied. We use a within-student identification strategy and find robust evidence of a negative and causal effect of exam-day outdoor air pollution on course performance. The effect of pollution persists beyond the same-day effect. Female students are more sensitive than males, and effects greatest when engaged in unfamiliar tasks. We explore two margins of adaptation, one infrastructural, one behavioral. Working in a new building, and particularly if it is high quality (LEED Gold), provides significant mitigation. Relocating to a floor above ground-level also offers partial protection.