Abstract
This study estimates temperature’s impact on labor productivity, with a particular focus on socioeconomically vulnerable communities. Extensive research has already established a link between climate change and various economic outcomes, such as agricultural yield, total factor productivity, and worker productivity (e.g., Schlenker and Roberts, 2009; Burke et al., 2015; Burke and Emerick, 2016). However, limited research has explored the economic consequences of weather fluctuations in socioeconomically vulnerable communities. These communities often lack the necessary resources and support systems to cope with and recover from the adverse impacts of extreme weather events. Consequently, the economic effects of extreme weather in these regions may differ significantly from those observed in more developed areas. In this paper, we utilize panel fixed effects estimation framework to identify the increasing heat incidence on labor productivity for the contiguous United States over 2001–2019. Our findings indicate that labor productivity remains relatively stable when there are changes in the frequency of cool-to-moderate maximum daily temperatures. However, as temperatures rise above 18 celsius, we observe increasingly negative effects on productivity, particularly in socioeconomically vulnerable communities. Given existing climate forecasts, we predict that extreme temperatures will exacerbate worker productivity disparities between socioeconomically vulnerable communities and more developed regions.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Technical, Political, and Social Responses
KEYWORDS
Temperature Effect, Labor Productivity, Socioeconomically Vulnerable Communities
