Pollutive cooking fuels and rural labor supply: Evidence from a large-scale population census in China

Abstract

Pollutive cooking fuels are a major source of indoor and ambient air pollution. Health issues resulting from pollutive cooking can hinder the rural population from labor market participation and reduce labor supply. With a sizable rural population still reliant on solid fuels, China is experiencing a severe labor supply constraint and a quick switch to clean energy. This study examines the potential effects of using pollutive cooking fuels on the availability of labor in rural areas as well as the potential benefits of switching to clean energy. The results demonstrate that the working hours of rural employees are significantly reduced by the use of polluting cooking fuels, which is a reduction of 0.8% from OLS estimate, 14.8% from IV estimation, and 3.7% from MTE estimation. There is substantial heterogeneity across the white-collar workers and the blue-collar workers, males and females, households with independent kitchens and households without kitchens. The policy-related effects show that either encouraging clean fuel inclination or enhancing clean energy infrastructure can increase rural labor supply by 3%–5%. This study suggests that affordable and accessible clean energy is essential to sustain a sufficient labor supply and reduce labor market inequalities.