The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep Among the Urban Poor

Pedro Bessone, Gautam Rao, Frank Schilbach, Heather Schofield and Mattie Toma

No 26746, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The urban poor in developing countries face challenging living environments, which may interfere with good sleep. Using actigraphy to measure sleep objectively, we find that low-income adults in Chennai, India sleep only 5.5 hours per night on average despite spending 8 hours in bed. Their sleep is highly interrupted, with sleep efficiency—sleep per time in bed—comparable to those with disorders such as sleep apnea or insomnia. A randomized three-week treatment providing information, encouragement, and improvements to home sleep environments increased sleep duration by 27 minutes per night by inducing more time in bed. Contrary to expert predictions and a large body of sleep research, increased nighttime sleep had no detectable effects on cognition, productivity, decision-making, or well-being, and led to small decreases in labor supply. In contrast, short afternoon naps at the workplace improved an overall index of outcomes by 0.12 standard deviations, with significant increases in productivity, psychological well-being, and cognition, but a decrease in work time.

JEL-codes: C93 D9 I1 I12 I15 O1 O12 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hea, nep-neu and nep-ure
Note: DEV EH LS
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published as Pedro Bessone & Gautam Rao & Frank Schilbach & Heather Schofield & Mattie Toma, 2021. "The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep Among the Urban Poor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 136(3), pages 1887-1941.

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