Who Can Adapt to Air Pollution? Evidence from Professional Football Players in China

39 Pages Posted: 22 Sep 2020

See all articles by Yu Qin

Yu Qin

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Department of Real Estate

Jing Wu

Tsinghua University - Hang Lung Center for Real Estate; Tsinghua University - Department of Construction Management

Rongjie Zhang

Tsinghua University - Hang Lung Center for Real Estate; Tsinghua University - Department of Construction Management

Date Written: August 8, 2020

Abstract

Air pollution has long been a major environmental problem, and the pollution-productivity relationship has attracted considerable research attention. In this paper, we study the impact of air pollution on Chinese professional football players' performance. Our primary research question is whether the negative effects of air pollution can be mitigated by adaptation, and which cohort can have higher adaptation capacity. We find that a higher pollution level during the game, relative to the adapted pollution level in players’ home city, has a negative and significant impact on the efforts and accuracy of football players. More importantly, the heterogeneous analysis suggests the air-pollution gap has a smaller effect on higher-ability players and on teams with more high-ability players. Moreover, the impact of non-adapted air pollution can be greatly offset by the home advantage. Our findings provide insights for policymakers on how to weaken the pollution-productivity relationship.

Keywords: Air pollution, Productivity, Adaptation, Football

JEL Classification: J24, Q51, Q53

Suggested Citation

Qin, Yu and Wu, Jing and Zhang, Rongjie, Who Can Adapt to Air Pollution? Evidence from Professional Football Players in China (August 8, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3669464 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3669464

Yu Qin

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Department of Real Estate ( email )

4 Architecture Drive
Singapore 117566
Singapore

Jing Wu (Contact Author)

Tsinghua University - Hang Lung Center for Real Estate ( email )

HeShanHeng Building
Beijing, 100084
China

HOME PAGE: http://thuwujing.net

Tsinghua University - Department of Construction Management ( email )

Heshanheng Building
Tsinghua University
Beijing, 100084
China

HOME PAGE: http://thuwujing.net

Rongjie Zhang

Tsinghua University - Hang Lung Center for Real Estate ( email )

HeShanHeng Building
Beijing, 100084
China

Tsinghua University - Department of Construction Management ( email )

Heshanheng Building
Tsinghua University
Beijing, 100084
China

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