%0 Report
        %A Akesaka, Mika
%A Shigeoka, Hitoshi
        %T Hotter Days, Wider Gap: The Distributional Impact of Heat on Student Achievement
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Oct
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18165
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18165
        %X 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.
        %K air conditioning
%K adaptation
%K student achievement
%K distributional impact
%K heat
%K children
%K climate change