Heat Waves at Conception and Later Life Outcomes∗

We ask whether children conceived during heat waves have better health and educational outcomes later in life. Using Census data from 22 countries, we show that children conceived during heat waves have higher literacy rates, attain more years of schooling, and lower rates of disability than children conceived during periods of normal temperatures. We then explore several channels through which this e ect may occur using a combined AIS, DHS, and MIS data set from sub-Saharan Africa. We nd evidence more educated and wealthier women are more likely to conceive a child during a heat wave, implying that part of the ∗INCOMPLETE DRAFT: DO NOT CITE OR DISSEMINATE WITHOUT PERMISSION. We thank David Canning, Ken Chay, David Lam, Ron Lee, and David Weil, as well as seminar participants at Brown University, Williams College, the University of South Florida, the 7th Annual PopPov Research Conference, XXVII IUSSP International Population Conference, PACDEV, European Society for Population Economics Conference, and the Midwest International Development Conference for helpful comments. We also thank David Frick, Stacey Gelsheimer, Robyn Kibler, Arseniy Yashkin, and especially Toni Jung for superlative research assistance, and the support of Grant Number R03TW009108 from the Fogarty International Center. The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the o cial views of the Fogarty International Center or the National Institutes of Health. †email: [email protected]. Paris School of Economics CNRS, 48 Bd Jourdan, 75014 Paris, France. ‡Corresponding author. email: [email protected]. University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. CMC 342, Tampa, FL 33620.