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The Impact Of High Temperatures On Performance In Work-Related Activities

Author

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  • Matteo Picchio

    (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche)

  • Jan C. Van Ours

    (Erasmus School of Economics and Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands)

Abstract

High temperatures can have a negative effect on work-related activities because workers may experience difficulties concentrating or have to reduce effort in order to cope with heat. We investigate how temperature affects performance of professional tennis players in outdoor singles matches in big tournaments. We find that performance significantly decreases with ambient temperature. This result is robust to including wind speed and air pollution in the analysis. There are no differences between men and women. However, there is some heterogeneity in the magnitude of the temperature effect in other dimensions. In particular, we find that the temperature effect is smaller when there is more at stake. Our findings also suggest that the negative temperature effect is smaller if the heat lasts, i.e. there is some adaptation to high temperatures.

Suggested Citation

  • Matteo Picchio & Jan C. Van Ours, 2023. "The Impact Of High Temperatures On Performance In Work-Related Activities," Working Papers 484, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    • Handle: RePEc:anc:wpaper:484
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    Cited by:

    1. Picchio, Matteo & van Ours, Jan C., 2024. "High temperatures and workplace injuries," CEPR Discussion Papers 19428, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    3. Mario Lackner & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2024. "When performance melts away: Heat causes mental errors in high-stakes competitions," Economics working papers 2024-11, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    4. Moustafa Feriga & Mancy Lozano Gracia & Pieter Serneels, 2024. "The impact of climate change on work lessons for developing countries," CSAE Working Paper Series 2024-02, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; temperatures; tennis; performance; productivity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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