Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Cognitive Performance: New Evidence from China's College English Test.

This paper investigates the impact of air pollution on students' cognitive performance in a high-stakes exam: China's College English Test (CET). We match exams taken from 2013 to 2017 at 22 universities across China with hourly air pollution measures from the nearest monitoring stations. Identification leverages a student fixed effects model, which alleviates the concern of omitted variables, such as students' ability. Our estimates indicate a statistically significant negative impact of fine particulate matters (PM 2.5 ) exposure during exam windows on cognitive performance. By focusing on a single language exam, instead of comparing performance across different test subjects, we are able to paint a more accurate picture of the cognitive impact of air pollution. We highlight the importance of short-term air pollution exposure for high-stakes cognitive performance. Our results suggest that temporary defensive measures could be important in mitigating the negative consequences of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]