scholarly journals ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON LABOR PRODUCTIVITY IN MANUFACTURING

2020 ◽  
pp. 212-219
Author(s):  
D. Klynovskyi
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Clean Technologies ◽  
The Impact

As long as the ecological topic became highly discussed recently, economic research related to ecology seems relevant. Natural features have a substantial impact on economic outcomes, in particular health capital. Air pollution, which is believed to be one of the most notable factors of environmental deterioration, affects human health, thus may influence labor productivity. In developed countries ecologically friendly production tends to spread rapidly, and, as a result, a certain regeneration of ecology is observed. However, the developing countries still make the most efforts to realize their full industrial potential, assigning a lower priority to the ecological issues. A quantitative estimate of the effect of industrial pollutant emissions on the labor productivity of the manufacturing workers would be an important argument for the firm deciding to improve its production processes, e.g. invest in ‘clean’ technologies or enhance the working conditions. In addition, it is important to investigate managerial practices that were effective in keeping or growing the level of labor productivity while decreasing the harmful effect on the environment at the same time. The result of this research might be interesting both for manufacturing firms’ management and for policymakers designing the regulation for industrial firms to overwhelm the pollution levels. A policy tool for pollution regulation must be not only efficient in reducing the amounts of pollutant emissions, but also has to be a good incentive for producers to invest in clean technologies.

“Air pollution arrested not imprisoned”: The impact of laws invoked on Covid-19 city lockdowns

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Mensah Aboagye ◽  
◽  
Nana Osei Owusu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
World Health ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Air pollution continues to be an environmental problem that poses a lot of health risks to the young and aged. Developed countries have invested heavily to curb this environmental problem, causing severe threats to human lives, yet the results do not look convincing. In developing countries, the situation is difficult than they can imagine, resulting in governments borrowing to fight what looks like a lost battle [1-3]. The in-depth study of this environmental menace - air pollution, suggests that the government enacts stringent measures to help fight this battle. This is because air pollution has natural (volcanic eruption) and anthropogenic (human activities) causes. In December 2019, the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak was soon declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) [4]. Majority of countries have had their share of the impact of this outbreak. Many countries resorted to city lockdown to strictly control the movement of people and economic activities as recommended by WHO.

scholarly journals Quantifying the impact of air pollution on the urban population of Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (suppl 4) ◽  
pp. S529-S536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabel Marcilio ◽  
Nelson Gouveia
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Time Series Studies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Respiratory Causes

This study aimed to quantify air pollution impact on morbidity and mortality in the Brazilian urban population using locally generated impact factors. Concentration-response coefficients were used to estimate the number of hospitalizations and deaths attributable to air pollution in seven Brazilian cities. Poisson regression coefficients (beta) were obtained from time-series studies conducted in Brazil. The study included individuals 65 years old and over and children under five. More than 600 deaths a year from respiratory causes in the elderly and 47 in children were attributable to mean air pollution levels, corresponding to 4.9% and 5.5% of all deaths from respiratory causes in these age groups. More than 4,000 hospital admissions for respiratory conditions were also attributable to air pollution. These results quantitatively demonstrate the currently observed contribution of air pollution to mortality and hospitalizations in Brazilian cities. Such assessment is thought to help support the planning of surveillance and control activities for air pollution in these and similar areas.

scholarly journals Gaseous and particulate urban air pollution in the region of Vojvodina (Serbia)

2015 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Author(s):  
Slavica Malinovic-Milicevic ◽  
Dragutin Mihailovic ◽  
Emilija Nikolic-Djoric ◽  
Marija Jevtic
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Calm Wind

The present study focuses on interpretations of the temporal variations and variations between urban locations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black smoke (BS) during the period 2001-2008 in the Vojvodina Region of Serbia (VR_S). In this study we examined variations of pollutants concentrations during household heating and non-heating seasons and the effect of household heating, traffic, rainfall and wind speed on the air pollution levels of SO2, NO2 and BS in eight locations. The analyses showed that the annual limit values of these pollutants as recommended by the Serbian regulations and recommendations were not exceeded, unlike the daily limits. Higher SO2 concentrations during household heating season in four locations indicate the substantial impact of house?hold heating on air quality. Positive effects of the use of environmentally cleaner fuels were observed in only two locations. The growing impact of traffic on air pollution is shown by the increasing trend of NO2 during both seasons. Calm wind conditions and an absence of rainfall were found to have incremental effects on pollution levels in most locations.

Air Pollution and Seasonality Effects on Mode Choice in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 2634 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weibo Li ◽  
Maria Kamargianni
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Mode Choice ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Modal Shift ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

A modal shift from motorized to nonmotorized vehicles is imperative to reduce air pollution in developing countries. Nevertheless, whether better air quality will improve the willingness to use nonmotorized transport remains unclear. If such a reciprocal effect could be identified, a sort of virtuous circle could be created (i.e., better air quality could result in higher nonmotorized transport demand, which in turn could further reduce air pollution). Developing countries may, therefore, be more incentivized to work on air pollution reduction from other sources to exploit the extra gains in urban transport. This study investigated the impact of air pollution on mode choices and whether nonmotorized transport was preferred when air quality was better. Revealed preference data about the mode choice behavior of the same individuals was collected during two seasons (summer and winter) with different air pollution levels. Two discrete mode choice models were developed (one for each season) to quantify and compare the impacts of different air pollution levels on mode choices. Trip and socioeconomic characteristics also were included in the model to identify changes in their impacts across seasons. Taiyuan, a Chinese city that operates a successful bikesharing scheme, was selected for a case study. The study results showed that air quality improvement had a significant, positive impact on nonmotorized transport use, which suggested that improvements in air quality and promotion of nonmotorized transport must be undertaken simultaneously because of their interdependence. The results of the study could act as a harbinger to policy makers and encourage them to design measures and policies that lead to sustainable travel behavior.

scholarly journals The assessment of pollutants emissions within sustainable urban freight transport development: The case of Novi Sad

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Velickovic ◽  
Djurdjica Stojanovic ◽  
Valentina Basaric
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Urban Freight ◽  
Urban Freight Transport ◽  
Novi Sad ◽  
Restrictive Measures ◽  
The Impact

Assessment of pollutant emissions is a prerequisite for planning and development of sustainable urban transport systems. Majority of extant studies on sustainable urban transport is focused on pollution caused by urban passenger transport, with marked paucity of literature on the impact of urban freight transport. To partly bridge this gap, the paper objective is the impact assessment of selected regulative measures, i.e. fleet renewal on freight transport emissions. We used the case of Novi Sad to estimate the potential impact of selected restrictive measures on the external freight transport air pollution. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies on impact of urban freight transport on the air pollution in the cities in the Balkan region. Several research findings are of interest. Firstly, the analysis of particular gas emissions reveals expected overall positive effects of the fleet renewal in most of cases. Still, the total amount of same emissions hardly increase, so this particular measure is not enough to reach the ambitious EU strategy goals concerned with sustainable urban freight transport. Further, some negative impacts of restrictive measures on gas emissions were also recorded and discussed. The observed complex impact of restrictive measures on urban freight air pollution indicates that urban freight transport planning and modeling requires a comprehensive database, clear goals and higher priority of environmental criterion in traffic planning. Our results and recommendations may be useful for scholars, urban transport planners, policy makers and practitioners.

scholarly journals Can the Target Responsibility System of Air Pollution Control Achieve a Win-Win Situation of Pollution Reduction and Efficiency Enhancement?

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Jingxuan Xu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Sample Interval ◽  
The Difference ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Responsibility System

Whether the environmental target responsibility system, a typical mandatory environmental regulation, can realize the coordinated development of environmental protection and economic growth has attracted widespread attention. With the difference-in-differences (DID) method, this paper utilizes a policy, “China’s Key Cities for Air Pollution Control to Meet the Standards within the Time Limit (APCMS),” as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically examine the target responsibility system of air pollution control’s effect on both firms’ pollutant emissions and their total factor productivity (TFP). The corresponding mechanisms are also investigated. The results show: 1) The policy not only significantly decreases firms’ pollutant emissions, but also improves their TFP. The results are robust to the exclusion of the impact of other policies in the same period, propensity score matching DID (PSM-DID) test, the adoption of alternative dependent variables, and altering sample interval; 2) The dynamic analysis shows that the policy effect on reducing pollutant emissions has increased over years after a lag of 2 years; 3) The policy reduces pollutant emissions mainly through stimulating the internal innovation rather than end-pipe treatment or production cuts. 4) Capital-intensive and private firms and firms in regions with a high degree of marketization or strong environmental law enforcement are found more responsive to the environmental target responsibility system.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy Green Innovation, Fossil Energy Consumption, and Air Pollution—Spatial Empirical Analysis Based on China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6397
Author(s):  
Neng Shen ◽  
Yifan Wang ◽  
Hui Peng ◽  
Zhiping Hou
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Green Innovation ◽  
Fossil Energy ◽  
Spatial Spillover ◽  
Local Air Pollution ◽  
The Impact

Excessive consumption of traditional fossil energy has led to more serious global air pollution. This article incorporates renewable energy green innovation (REGI), fossil energy consumption (FEC), and air pollution into a unified analysis framework. Using China’s provincial panel data, a spatial measurement model was used to investigate the spatial effects of renewable energy green innovation and fossil energy consumption on air pollution in China from 2011 to 2017. The global Moran index shows that over time, the spatial correlation of air pollution has gradually weakened, while the global correlation of renewable energy green innovation and fossil energy consumption is increasing year by year. ArcGIS visualization and partial Moran index show that air pollution, renewable energy green innovation, and fossil energy consumption are extremely uneven in geographic space. The spatial distribution of air pollution, renewable energy green innovations, and fossil energy consumption are all characterized by high in the east and low in the west and they all show a strong spatial aggregation. Applying the spatial adjacency matrix to the spatial Durbin model gave the results that China’s air pollution has a significant spatial spillover effect. Replacing fossil fuels with clean renewable energy will reduce air pollutant emissions. The Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis has not been supported and verified in China. The partial differential method test found that the spatial spillover benefits can be decomposed into direct effects and indirect effects. The direct and indirect effects of renewable energy green innovation on air pollution are both significantly negative, indicating that green innovation of renewable energy not only inhibits local air pollution, but also inhibits air pollution in nearby areas. The consumption of fossil energy will significantly increase the local air pollution, while the impact of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and soot (DS) pollution in nearby areas is not obvious. It is recommended to increase investment in renewable energy green innovation, reduce the proportion of traditional fossil energy consumption, and pay attention to the spatial connection and overflow of renewable energy green innovation and air pollution.

scholarly journals GHG Emissions Mitigation in the European Union Based on Labor Market Changes

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 465
Author(s):  
Mihaela Simionescu ◽  
Yuriy Bilan ◽  
Piotr Zawadzki ◽  
Adam Wojciechowski ◽  
Marcin Rabe
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Actual Problem ◽  
Member States ◽  
Emissions Mitigation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The effects of the labor market on environmental issues are an actual problem at the global level, and recommendations are required to achieve equilibrium between labor productivity and environmental protection. Considering the ecological limits of work and the necessity of reducing the working time to mitigate GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, this paper aims to assess the impact of the labor market on GHG emissions in the EU-28 countries. Using panel data models for 2007–2019, a positive effect of working time for employed persons on GHG emissions was detected. Labor productivity has a positive impact on emissions for most of the developed countries in the EU (old member states), while the effect is negative in the case of most of the new member states, which suggests that more efforts should be made by old member states to correlate labor productivity with a sustainable level of GHG emissions. As a novelty for research in the field, we assessed also the effect of targeted labor utilization on GHG emissions in order to describe the context of a sustainable economy that is an objective for each country in the EU. These results suggest that progress in GHG emissions mitigation might be achieved by reducing the working time for employed persons, which will also improve well-being. These recommendations could be useful also for other developed countries outside the EU that encounter the same difficulties.

scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Air Pollution Levels During Times of International Uncertainty: The Financial Crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Ammar Vora ◽  
Hillary Hale
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
System 2 ◽  
Financial Crisis Of 2008 ◽  
Severe Recession ◽  
National Economies

During a crisis, economies stagnate as uncertainty grows about the future state of the world. The financial crisis of 2008 led to a severe recession where the global economy halted for approximately two years, causing unemployment and poverty [1]. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which attacks the respiratory system [2], was first identified in Wuhan, China, in late December of 2019. Within a matter of months, it spread globally causing economies to shut down. As distinct as the financial crisis of 2008 may seem from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, both have had devastating effects on national economies and industrial production, resulting in an overall decrease in air pollutant emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Therefore, parallels can be made between air pollution levels during each crisis. Given air pollution rates increased after the financial crisis of 2008 [3], it is likely air pollution will also rise in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to support this argument by analyzing air pollution trends outlined in the results of several published papers.

scholarly journals Elevated 3D structures of PM<sub>2.5</sub> and impact of complex terrain-forcing circulations on heavy haze pollution over Sichuan Basin, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 9253-9268
Author(s):  
Zhuozhi Shu ◽  
Yubao Liu ◽  
Tianliang Zhao ◽  
Junrong Xia ◽  
Chenggang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Sichuan Basin ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Haze Pollution ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Deep basins create uniquely favorable conditions for causing air pollution, and the Sichuan Basin (SCB) in Southwest China is such a basin featuring frequent heavy pollution. A wintertime heavy haze pollution event in the SCB was studied with conventional and intensive observation data and the WRF-Chem model to explore the 3D distribution of PM2.5 to understand the impact of regional pollutant emissions, basin circulations associated with plateaus, and downwind transport to the adjacent areas. It was found that the vertical structure of PM2.5 over the SCB was characterized by a remarkable hollow sandwiched by high PM2.5 layers at heights of 1.5–3 km and a highly polluted near-surface layer. The southwesterlies over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (YGP) resulted in a lee vortex over the SCB, which helped form and maintain heavy PM2.5 pollution. The basin PM2.5 was lifted into the free troposphere and transported outside of the SCB. At the bottom of the SCB, high PM2.5 concentrations were mostly located in the northwestern and southern regions. Due to the blocking effect of the plateau terrain on the northeasterly winds, PM2.5 gradually increased from northeast to southwest in the basin. In the lower free troposphere, the high PM2.5 centers were distributed over the northwestern and southwestern SCB areas, as well as the central SCB region. For this event, the regional emissions from the SCB contributed 75.4 %–94.6 % to the surface PM2.5 concentrations in the SCB. The SCB emissions were the major source of PM2.5 over the eastern regions of the TP and the northern regions of the YGP, with contribution rates of 72.7 % and 70.5 %, respectively, during the dissipation stage of heavy air pollution over the SCB, which was regarded as the major pollutant source affecting atmospheric environment changes in Southwest China.

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