Working Paper: NBER ID: w28987
Authors: Anita Mukherjee; Nicholas J. Sanders
Abstract: Correctional facilities commonly lack climate control, producing a setting absent endogenous responses to hot weather like avoidance, adjustment, and mitigation. We study daily weather variation across the state of Mississippi, and show that high temperatures increase intense violence among the incarcerated. Days with unsafe heat index levels shift both the intensive and extensive margins of violence, raising daily violent interactions by 20%, and the probability of any violence by 18%. Our setting cleanly identifies the effect of heat on violence, and highlights previously unobserved social costs of current facility infrastructure. Rising global temperatures could substantially increase violence absent adjustment.
Keywords: heat; violence; incarceration; prison reform
JEL Codes: I1; K38; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| High ambient temperatures (Q54) | Increase in the number of violent events among incarcerated individuals (K42) |
| Average temperatures of 80°F or higher (Q54) | Probability of any violence increases (D74) |
| Days with extreme temperatures (Q54) | Increase in violent behavior (K42) |