Working Paper: NBER ID: w31684
Authors: Xuwen Gao; Ran Song; Christopher Timmins; Fang Xia
Abstract: We provide the first estimates of the negative impact of exposure to extremely high temperatures during pregnancy on mothers’ labor market outcomes. We employ individual-level survey data from China and leverage plausibly exogenous fluctuations in heat exposure within cities. The results demonstrate that exposure to extremely hot weather during pregnancy reduces women’s wages and labor supply later in life and increases the likelihood that they will work in an unskilled sector. The effects are stronger for heat exposure during the third gestational trimester. The mechanism for these results is that extreme temperature exposure during pregnancy undermines maternal health. Our analysis proposes a new channel through which extreme weather generates health and economic costs.
Keywords: Heat exposure; Labor market outcomes; Maternal health; Pregnancy; China
JEL Codes: I10; J22; J31; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| gestational exposure to extreme heat (I12) | women's wages (J31) |
| gestational exposure to extreme heat (I12) | labor supply (J20) |
| gestational exposure to extreme heat during third trimester (J13) | labor market outcomes (J48) |
| gestational exposure to extreme heat during first and second trimesters (J13) | labor market outcomes (J48) |
| gestational exposure to extreme heat (I12) | likelihood of unskilled labor sectors (F66) |