Goldilocks Economies? Temperature Stress and the Direct Impacts of Climate Change

21 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2015 Last revised: 17 Mar 2023

See all articles by Geoffrey M. Heal

Geoffrey M. Heal

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jisung Park

Harvard University - Department of Economics

Date Written: April 2015

Abstract

We review recent literature on the effect of temperature stress on economic activity, operating through basic human physiology. There is growing evidence from both micro and macro studies of causal impacts of extreme temperature on health, labor supply, and labor productivity, driven in large part by extreme heat stress. There is also a suggestion of an optimal temperature zone for economic activity, though empirical research on potential adaptive responses remains thin. This emerging literature has implications for the consequence of climate change, and may also provide a partial explanation of why hot countries are generally poorer than temperate or cold ones.

Suggested Citation

Heal, Geoffrey M. and Park, Jisung, Goldilocks Economies? Temperature Stress and the Direct Impacts of Climate Change (April 2015). NBER Working Paper No. w21119, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2599385

Geoffrey M. Heal (Contact Author)

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance ( email )

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New York, NY 10027
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HOME PAGE: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/gheal/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Jisung Park

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

Littauer Center
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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