Heat Waves at Conception and Later Life Outcomes

This paper asks whether children conceived during heat waves have better health and educational outcomes later in life. Using Census data from 16 countries, we show that children conceived during heat waves have higher literacy rates, attain more years of schooling, and have lower rates of disability than children conceived during periods of normal temperatures. We also show, using a combined AIS, DHS, and MIS data set from Africa, that infant mortality is lower for children conceived during heat waves. We then explore several channels through which this effect may occur, including differential reductions in sexual activity during heat waves among higher quality parents; biological effects of heat on conception and spontaneous abortion in utero; and changes in the proportion of unintended pregnancies during heat waves, among others.