The employment consequences of pollution information disclosure: Evidence from China

This paper examines how air quality information disclosure affects firm employment responses to air pollution. We exploit China's nationwide disclosure program launched in 2013, which provided comprehensive real-time pollution data. Using Chinese A-share company data from 2005 to 2019, we find that the air quality information disclosure program changes the firm employment response to air pollution, with unit increases in pollution leading to additional reductions in firm employment. Three mechanisms drive these effects, namely intensified local government enforcement, firms' failure to provide compensating wage differentials, and brain drain of high-skilled workers. Information disclosure also amplifies pollution's negative effects on firm performance, while factor input structures remain unchanged.