In many nations, brick industry is the oldest and fastest-growing industrial sector. India is the world's second-largest producer of bricks, after China. Given that India is a growing nation, the country's rapid economic expansion and urbanization are driving up demand for bricks nationwide. Though the Indian economy greatly benefits from the brick production sector, air pollution is by far its most notable and direct side effect. Black carbon, CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, suspended particulate matter (SPM), a significant amount of bottom ash residue, and heavy metals (such as lead and chromium) are among the emissions from the brick business. These further causes serious health concerns like respiratory problems, dermatological issues, musculoskeletal disorders etc. for the workers of the brick kilns and the group of people residing near those brick kilns.
This health issue that arises because of the environmental emissions need to be addressed. It can be addressed in a way when workers who have higher risk associated to their jobs are given higher wages as compared to those workers who don’t have that much risk associated to their jobs. Hence, we take the ‘Hedonic Wage Model’ into account which incorporates the wage differential between the workers because of the high and low risks associated to their jobs (Shanmugam, 2013).
Key Words: Brick kilns, Hedonic Wage Model, VSL, VSI, Log hourly wage, emissions, Bijnor.