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The impact of high temperatures on performance in work-related activities

Author

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  • Picchio, Matteo
  • van Ours, Jan C.

Abstract

High temperatures can have a negative effect on work-related activities. Labor productivity may go down because mental health or physical health is worse when it is too warm. Workers may experience difficulties concentrating or they have to reduce effort in order to cope with heat. We investigate how temperature affects performance of male professional tennis players. We use data about outdoor singles matches from 2003 until 2021. Our identification strategy relies on the plausible exogeneity of short-term daily temperature variations in a given tournament from the average temperature over the same tournament. We find that performance significantly decreases with gambient temperature. The magnitude of the temperature effect is age-specific and skill-specific. Older and less-skilled players suffer more from high temperatures than younger and more skilled players do. The effect of temperature on performance is smaller when there is more at stake. Our findings also suggest that there is adaptation to high temperatures: the effects are smaller if the heat lasts for several days.

Suggested Citation

  • Picchio, Matteo & van Ours, Jan C., 2023. "The impact of high temperatures on performance in work-related activities," CEPR Discussion Papers 18451, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18451
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    2. Filomena, Mattia & Picchio, Matteo, 2024. "Unsafe temperatures, unsafe jobs: The impact of weather conditions on work-related injuries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 851-875.
    3. Matteo Picchio & Jan C. Ours, 2025. "High temperatures and workplace injuries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 69(4), pages 2339-2369, October.
    4. Moustafa Feriga & Nancy Lozano Gracia & Pieter Serneels, 2025. "The Impact of Climate Change on Work: Lessons for Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 40(1), pages 104-146.
    5. Belloc, Ignacio & Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2025. "Extreme temperatures: Gender differences in well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    6. Marin, Giovanni & Oo, Aung Tun, 2025. "Sectoral exposure to heat: heterogeneous impacts of extreme heat on workplace accidents in Italy," FEEM Working Papers 376269, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. Edoardo Santoni & Margherita Scarlato & Nicolò Barbieri & Caterina Conigliani, 2025. "Heat and work-related injuries: How temperature measurement affects outcomes," SEEDS Working Papers 0225, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Mar 2025.
    8. Yu Zhang & Yuta Uchiyama & Masayuki Sato, 2025. "Combined effects of urban blue–green spaces on the thermal environment: a case study of Kobe, Japan," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 59-88, February.
    9. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    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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