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

Arbeitspapier

High temperatures can have a negative effect on work-related activities because workers may experience difficulties concentrating or have to reduce effort in order to cope with heat. We investigate how temperature affects performance of professional tennis players in outdoor singles matches in big tournaments. We find that performance significantly decreases with ambient temperature. This result is robust to including wind speed and air pollution in the analysis. There are no differences between men and women. However, there is some heterogeneity in the magnitude of the temperature effect in other dimensions. In particular, we find that the temperature effect is smaller when there is more at stake. Our findings also suggest that the negative temperature effect is smaller if the heat lasts, i.e. there is some adaptation to high temperatures.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 1353

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Labor Standards: Working Conditions ; Valuation of Environmental Effects ; Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
• Subject: Climate change ; temperatures ; tennis ; performance ; productivity

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Picchio, Matteo ; Ours, Jan C. van
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/280281
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET