Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/270937 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
GLO Discussion Paper No. 1278
Publisher: 
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen
Abstract: 
This paper offers one of the first evidence in a developing country context that transitory exposure to high temperatures may disrupt low-stakes cognitive activities across a range of age cohorts. By matching eight years of repeated cognitive tests among all the participants in a nationally representative longitudinal survey in China with weather data according to the exact time and geographic location of their assessment, we show that exposure to a temperature above 32 °C on the test date, relative to a moderate day within 22-24 °C, leads to a sizable decline in their math scores by 0.066 standard deviations (equivalent to 0.23 years of education). Further, the effect on the math test scores is more salient for individuals who are older or less educated.
Subjects: 
cognitive performance
high temperatures
adaptation
age gradients
JEL: 
I24
Q54
Q51
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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