IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jaerec/doi10.1086-726007.html

Temperature and Low-Stakes Cognitive Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Zhang
  • Xi Chen
  • Xiaobo Zhang

Abstract

This study offers some 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°C–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.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Zhang & Xi Chen & Xiaobo Zhang, 2024. "Temperature and Low-Stakes Cognitive Performance," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 75-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jaerec:doi:10.1086/726007
    DOI: 10.1086/726007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/726007
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/726007
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/726007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gong, Jiaowei & Shi, Xiangyu & Wang, Chang & Zhang, Xin, 2025. "Extreme high temperatures and adaptation by social dynamics: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    2. Jose María Martínez & Victor Zuluaga & Alexander Buriticá, 2025. "Sweating Bullets: Heat, High-Stakes Evaluations, and The Role of Incentives," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(9), pages 2429-2467, September.
    3. Xiaojun Yu & Russell Smyth & Yao Yao & Quanda Zhang, 2024. "Water stress and industrial firm productivity: Evidence from China," Monash Economics Working Papers 2024-20, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    4. Ziheng Liu & Xi Chen & Qinan Lu, 2025. "Blowin’ in the wind of an invisible killer: long-term exposure to ozone and respiratory mortality in the USA," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(3), pages 1-30, September.
    5. Zhao, Caiyi & Zhang, Xin & Ma, Chao & Xu, Wei, 2025. "The impact of extreme high temperatures on ADRD hospitalization in Guangdong, China, 2017–2019," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    6. Mika Akesaka & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2025. "Hotter Days, Wider Gap: The Distributional Impact of Heat on Student Achievement," Discussion Paper Series DP2025-07, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    7. repec:ags:aaea22:343559 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Miranda Montero, Juan Jose & Contreras, Cesar, 2025. "Impact of Heat Waves on Learning Outcomes and the Role of Conditional Cash Transfers : Evidence from Peru," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11171, The World Bank.
    9. Sergio Venegas Marin & Lara Schwarz & Shwetlena Sabarwal, 2024. "The Impact of Climate Change on Education and What to Do about It," World Bank Publications - Reports 41483, The World Bank Group.
    10. Zhang, Jingfang & Malikov, Emir & Miao, Ruiqing, 2024. "Distributional effects of the increasing heat incidence on labor productivity," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Shi, Xiangyu & Zhang, Xin, 2025. "Extreme high temperatures, firm dynamics and heterogeneity, and aggregate productivity: The case of Chinese manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jaerec:doi:10.1086/726007. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JAERE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.