Hotter Days, Wider Gap: The Distributional Impact of Heat on Student Achievement

Mika Akesaka and Hitoshi Shigeoka

No 25145, RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin)

Abstract: This study demonstrates that heat disproportionately impairs human capital accumulation among low-performing students compared with their high-performing peers, using nationwide examination data from 22 million students in Japan. Given the strong correlation between academic performance and socioeconomic background, this suggests that heat exposure exacerbates pre-existing socioeconomic disparities among children. However, access to air conditioning in schools significantly mitigates these adverse effects across all achievement levels, with particularly pronounced benefits for lower-performing students. These findings suggest that public investment in school infrastructure can help reduce the unevenly distributed damage caused by heat to student learning, thereby promoting both efficiency and equity.

Keywords: Heat; Distributional impact; Student achievement; Adaptation; Air conditioning; Children; Climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I24 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
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