Zhang Ning, Wei Xiahai, Huang Xuhui, He Pan, Liu Yunxiao, Liu Hongyou, Lin Tao, Shi Xin, Liu Zhu, Freeman Richard B
Institute of Blue and Green Development, Shandong Univeristy, Weihai, China.
Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 28;14(1):31093. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82322-w.
Using a unique dataset on the performance of soccer players in China (retrieved from 632 matches involving 24 teams during the 2014 to 2016 seasons), we investigate the effect of air pollution on different performance indicators that rely on different mixtures of the physical and cognitive inputs of players. To ensure a causal interpretation, we implement an instrumental variable (IV) approach using thermal inversion as the instrument for air pollution. We found that players' performance indicators, especially those more related to cognitive factors, are more strongly influenced by air pollution. One standard deviation (SD) increase in the Air Quality Index (AQI) leads to 2.5% decrease in the number of players' passes and 5.1% increase in the number of fouls. However, for performance indicators that are more related to players' physical condition, e.g., running distances, no such significant impact is identified. Overall, these findings suggest that the negative impact of short-term air pollution exposure on outdoor worker performance is mainly cognitive, which we believe could lead to important policy implications, not only for competitive sports but also across a much broader spectrum of business sectors.
利用一个关于中国足球运动员表现的独特数据集（数据取自2014至2016赛季涉及24支球队的632场比赛），我们研究了空气污染对依赖球员不同身体和认知投入组合的不同表现指标的影响。为确保因果解释，我们采用工具变量（IV）方法，使用热倒置作为空气污染的工具变量。我们发现，球员的表现指标，尤其是那些与认知因素更相关的指标，受空气污染的影响更大。空气质量指数（AQI）增加一个标准差（SD）会导致球员传球次数减少2.5%，犯规次数增加5.1%。然而，对于与球员身体状况更相关的表现指标，如跑步距离，则未发现此类显著影响。总体而言，这些发现表明，短期接触空气污染对户外工作者表现的负面影响主要是认知方面的，我们认为这可能会产生重要的政策影响，不仅适用于竞技体育，也适用于更广泛的商业领域。
