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Only in the Heat of the Moment? A Study of the Relationship between Weather and Mortality in Germany

Karlsson, Martin ; Schmitt, Maike (2011)
Only in the Heat of the Moment? A Study of the Relationship between Weather and Mortality in Germany.
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Item Type: Report
Type of entry: Primary publication
Title: Only in the Heat of the Moment? A Study of the Relationship between Weather and Mortality in Germany
Language: English
Date: August 2011
Place of Publication: Darmstadt
Series: Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics
Series Volume: 203
Abstract:

In this study we analyze the relationship between heat events and mortality in Germany. The main research questions are: Does heat lead to rising mortality and if yes, are the effects persistent or compensated for in the near future? Furthermore, we consider differences between heat effects in urban and rural environments. Cause specific daily mortality and meteorological data is connected on the county level. We allow for static as well as dynamic relations between extreme temperatures and mortality and implement several panel data estimation approaches. We find that heat has a significant positive impact on mortality. The strongest effects can be measured on the day when heat occurs and the first week afterwards. The mortality increase ranges between 0.003 and 3.5 per 100,000 inhabitants depending on the particular death cause. We do not find a significant negative, and thus compensating impact in a medium term, which is in the contrary to the Harvesting Hypothesis. Using a value of statistical life approach we estimate that one additional hot day in Germany induces for the overall population a loss of m € 1,861. Moreover, the environment plays an important role. The heat induced increase in mortality is significantly higher in urban areas.

Uncontrolled Keywords: Climate Change, Harvesting Hypothesis, Heat Waves, Mortality, Urban Heat Island effect
URN: urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-47238
Classification DDC: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
Divisions: 01 Department of Law and Economics
01 Department of Law and Economics > Volkswirtschaftliche Fachgebiete
01 Department of Law and Economics > Volkswirtschaftliche Fachgebiete > Applied Econometrics
Date Deposited: 12 Aug 2011 12:00
Last Modified: 26 Jan 2016 15:00
URI: https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/id/eprint/4723
PPN: 386810095
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