Productivity and Health: Alternative Productivity Measures using Physical Activity

This paper investigates an alternative measure for individual worker productivity in physical work settings: a direct measure of physical activity using an accelerometer. First, the paper evaluates the relationship of agricultural workers’ physical activity with their daily productivity and labor supply, which are directly observed, and finds a positive correlation. Second, to illustrate the promise of physical activity measures and provide further validation, we estimate the impact of a health intervention on physical activity, and compare with its impact on productivity and labor supply. The results demonstrate that the increased daily productivity of workers who are offered this program is explained by worker time reallocation from lower intensity activities to higher intensity activities.

本研究探讨了体力劳动场景下个体工人生产率的替代衡量指标：即使用加速度计（accelerometer）直接测量体力活动水平。首先，本研究评估了农业工人的体力活动与可直接观测的每日生产率、劳动供给之间的关联，并发现二者呈正相关关系。其次，为阐明体力活动衡量指标的应用前景并开展进一步验证，本研究估算了一项健康干预措施对体力活动的影响，并将其与该措施对生产率和劳动供给的影响进行对比。研究结果表明，参与该项目的工人每日生产率提升，源于其将工作时间从低强度活动重新分配至高强度活动。