Nuremberg Research Seminar in Economics on 16 July 2025, LG 4.154 (!!)
You are invited to join the weekly Nuremberg Research Seminar in Economics on 16 July 2025, from 13.15 to 14.45 pm. The seminar will be held in room LG 4.154. Katrin Zocher (University of Linz) will be talking about “Heat Affects Mental Health”.
More information can be found here:
Heat kills. Beyond its direct physical dangers, heat has the potential to provoke negative emotional responses, such as anger and irritability. It can also significantly exacerbate pre-existing mental health conditions. While the connections between climate change and physical health have been widely studied, the effects of climate change on mental health have not. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the relationship between heat exposure and mental health outcomes. We analyzed detailed daily temperature and humidity data alongside comprehensive mental healthcare utilization records for 1.1 million individuals in Austria from 2005 to 2023. Using an individual fixed-effects estimator, which controls for time trends and other meteorological variables (e.g., sunshine duration and precipitation), we identified a robust, economically significant positive effect of heat exposure on mental health outcomes. Specifically, we found that each additional day with a heat index above 30°C was associated with a 1–2% increase in monthly expenditures related to dementia, delirium, cognitive disorders, and antidepressant prescriptions. Furthermore, our findings reveal that the onset of these conditions is associated with substantial follow-up costs and poorer long-term health outcomes. These results are notable because they come from a country with a moderate climate and limited air conditioning use in homes. Nevertheless, even moderate heat waves significantly impact mental health.