Heat, Humidity, and Infant Mortality in the Developing World

Michael Geruso and Dean Spears

No 24870, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study how extreme temperature exposure impacts infant survival in the developing world. Our analysis overcomes the absence of vital registration systems in many poor countries, which has been a limiting factor in the temperature-mortality literature, by extracting birth histories from household surveys. Studying 53 developing countries that span the globe, we find impacts of hot days on infant mortality that are an order of magnitude larger than estimates from rich country studies, with humidity playing an important role. The size and implied geographic distribution of harms documented here have the potential to significantly alter assessments of optimal climate policy.

JEL-codes: H23 I1 J1 O1 Q5 Q54 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
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Working Paper: Heat, Humidity, and Infant Mortality in the Developing World (2018)
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