Air Pollution and Post-COVID-19 Work Resumption: Evidence from China

Abstract

To cope with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), national or subnational regions have carried out anti-pandemic measures such as locking down, which may improve their air quality. This paper examines the relation between air pollution and work resumption from a novel post-pandemic perspective. Using unique data on detailed industrial electricity consumption in China, this paper doesn't find a positive relation between post-COVID-19 work resumption and air pollution during the early-stage recovery. This result is obtained after controlling for province and date fixed effects, as well as local weather conditions. However, the positive relation is found for a particular subsample of large industrial enterprises and April. This finding indicates that large industrial enterprises may recover first, and the resumption is progressing gradually. Finally, several policy implications are provided, which are essentially helpful for other countries’ post-pandemic recovery.