How does Air Pollution Affects the Employment in Service Sector? Empirical Evidence from China

Abstract

Air pollution has significant negative externalities and affects all aspects of life. This paper examines whether air pollution levels affect service sector employment using panel data for 270 prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2020. The results found that urban air pollution level has a significant negative impact on employment in the service sector, and it still holds after quantile estimation. The findings of this paper have some policy implications for improving relevant air pollution control measures and promoting the employment in service sector.