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Households and heat stress: estimating the distributional consequences of climate change

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  • Park, Jisung
  • Bangalore, Mook
  • Hallegatte, Stephane
  • Sandhoefner, Evan

Abstract

Recent research documents the adverse causal impacts on health and productivity of extreme heat, which will worsen with climate change. In this paper, we assess the current distribution of heat exposure within countries, to explore possible distributional consequences of climate change through temperature. Combining survey data from 690,745 households across 52 countries with spatial data on climate, this paper suggests that the welfare impacts of added heat stress may be regressive within countries. We find: (1) a strong negative correlation between household wealth and warmer temperature in many hot countries; (2) a strong positive correlation between household wealth and warmer temperatures in many cold countries; and (3) that poorer individuals are more likely to work in occupations with greater exposure. While our analysis is descriptive rather than causal, our results suggest a larger vulnerability of poor people to heat extremes, and potentially significant distributional and poverty implications of climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Park, Jisung & Bangalore, Mook & Hallegatte, Stephane & Sandhoefner, Evan, 2018. "Households and heat stress: estimating the distributional consequences of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87547, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:87547
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    9. Geoffrey Heal & Jisung Park, 2016. "Editor's Choice Reflections—Temperature Stress and the Direct Impact of Climate Change: A Review of an Emerging Literature," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 347-362.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Managing the distributional effects of climate policies: A narrow path to a just transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga, 2024. "Environment vs. Economic Growth: Do Environmental Preferences Translate Into Support for Green Parties?," IZA Discussion Papers 17475, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Anaïs E. A. Goubert, 2022. "Slavery, Colonialism, and Ecological Imperialism: Insights from Stratification Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 81(3), pages 537-579, May.
    4. R. Jisung Park & Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, 2020. "Heat and Learning," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 306-339, May.
    5. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Olga Popova & Nargiza Alimukhamedova, 2024. "Rainfall variability and labor allocation in Uzbekistan: the role of women’s empowerment," Post-Soviet Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 119-138, March.
    6. Nanda Kaji Budhathoki & Kerstin K. Zander, 2019. "Socio-Economic Impact of and Adaptation to Extreme Heat and Cold of Farmers in the Food Bowl of Nepal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-24, May.
    7. Céline Guivarch & Nicolas Taconet, 2020. "Inégalités mondiales et changement climatique," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 35-70.
    8. Jardine, Sunny L. & Fisher, Mary C. & Moore, Stephanie K. & Samhouri, Jameal F., 2020. "Inequality in the Economic Impacts from Climate Shocks in Fisheries: The Case of Harmful Algal Blooms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Heilmann, Kilian & Kahn, Matthew E. & Tang, Cheng Keat, 2021. "The urban crime and heat gradient in high and low poverty areas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    10. Behrer,Arnold Patrick & Bolotnyy,Valentin, 2022. "Heat, Crime, and Punishment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9909, The World Bank.
    11. Maamoun, Nada & Grünhagen, Caroline & Ward, Hauke & Kornek, Ulrike, 2024. "A Seat at the Table: Distributional impacts of food-price increases due to climate change," EconStor Preprints 281165, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    12. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    13. Yun Qiu & Jinhua Zhao, 2022. "Adaptation and the distributional effects of heat: Evidence from professional archery competitions," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(3), pages 1149-1177, January.
    14. Hélène Benveniste & Michael Oppenheimer & Marc Fleurbaey, 2022. "Climate change increases resource-constrained international immobility," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(7), pages 634-641, July.
    15. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Olga Popova, 2022. "Does Weather Sharpen Income Inequality in Russia?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 193-223, April.
    16. Brookes Gray, Harriet & Taraz, Vis & Halliday, Simon D., 2023. "The impact of weather shocks on employment outcomes: evidence from South Africa," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 285-305, June.
    17. Tien Manh Vu, 2022. "Effects of Heat on Mathematics Test Performance in Vietnam," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 72-94, March.
    18. Villalobos, Laura & Gomez, Julian D. & Garcia, Jorge H., 2023. "Technology Attenuates the Impact of Heat on Learning. Evidence from Colombia," EfD Discussion Paper 23-6, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; exposure; heat stress; labor productivity; poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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