[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v119y2023ics0095069623000141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Into the tropics: Temperature, mortality, and access to health care in Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Helo Sarmiento, Juliana
Abstract
This paper analyzes the relationship between temperature, mortality, and adaptation opportunities in a tropical country. Such countries host almost 40% of the world’s population and face inherently different environmental, demographic, and socio-economic conditions than their counterparts in temperate areas. Using detailed data from all Colombian municipalities, I show that anomalously hot or cold days increase mortality even at narrow temperature ranges, which are characteristic of the tropics. An additional day with a mean temperature above 27 °C (80.6 ∘F) increases mortality rates by approximately 0.24 deaths per 100,000, equivalent to 0.7% of monthly death rates. Unlike temperate locations, I find that deaths attributed to infectious diseases and respiratory illnesses drive this relationship in the hot part of the distribution, mainly affecting children aged 0–9. These findings uncover new factors and populations at risk and imply that the average person who dies after a hot temperature shock loses approximately 30 years of life. I also provide evidence that access to health care and quality of services could mediate between temperature and mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Helo Sarmiento, Juliana, 2023. "Into the tropics: Temperature, mortality, and access to health care in Colombia," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000141
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102796
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069623000141
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102796?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deschenes, Olivier, 2014. "Temperature, human health, and adaptation: A review of the empirical literature," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 606-619.
    2. Bhalotra, Sonia & Fernandez, Manuel, 2021. "The Right to Health and the Health Effects of Denials," QAPEC Discussion Papers 11, Quantitative and Analytical Political Economy Research Centre.
    3. Olivier Deschênes & Michael Greenstone, 2011. "Climate Change, Mortality, and Adaptation: Evidence from Annual Fluctuations in Weather in the US," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 152-185, October.
    4. François Cohen & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2022. "Mortality, Temperature, and Public Health Provision: Evidence from Mexico," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 161-192, May.
    5. repec:idb:brikps:79464 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Garth Heutel & Nolan H. Miller & David Molitor, 2021. "Adaptation and the Mortality Effects of Temperature across U.S. Climate Regions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(4), pages 740-753, October.
    7. Mullins, Jamie T. & White, Corey, 2020. "Can access to health care mitigate the effects of temperature on mortality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    8. Olivier Deschênes & Enrico Moretti, 2009. "Extreme Weather Events, Mortality, and Migration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 659-681, November.
    9. Antonio Giuffrida & Carmen Elisa Flórez & Úrsula Giedion & Enriqueta Cueto & Juan Gonzalo López & Amanda Glassman & Ramón A. Castaño & Diana M. Pinto & Renata Pardo & Teresa M. Tono & William D. Saved, 2009. "From Few to Many: Ten Years of Health Insurance Expansion in Colombia," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 79464 edited by Antonio Giuffrida & Úrsula Giedion & María Luisa Escobar & Amanda Glassman, February.
    10. Alan Barreca & Karen Clay & Olivier Deschenes & Michael Greenstone & Joseph S. Shapiro, 2016. "Adapting to Climate Change: The Remarkable Decline in the US Temperature-Mortality Relationship over the Twentieth Century," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 105-159.
    11. Alejandro Gaviria & Carlos Medina & Carolina Mejia, 2006. "Assessing Health Reform in Colombia: From Theory to Practice," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2006), pages 29-72, August.
    12. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    13. Marshall Burke & Solomon M. Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2015. "Climate and Conflict," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 577-617, August.
    14. Alejandro Gaviria & Carlos Medina & Carolina Mejía, 2006. "Evaluating The Impact Of Health Care Reform In Colombia: From Theory To Practice," Documentos CEDE 2647, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    15. Corey White, 2017. "The Dynamic Relationship between Temperature and Morbidity," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 1155-1198.
    16. Yu, Xiumei & Lei, Xiaoyan & Wang, Min, 2019. "Temperature effects on mortality and household adaptation: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 195-212.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. García-Witulski, Christian & Rabassa, Mariano Javier & Conte Grand, Mariana & Rozenberg, Julie, 2023. "Valuing mortality attributable to present and future temperature extremes in Argentina," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Torres-Higuera, Paula, 2024. "Warm Days, Warmer Homes? Effects of Temperature Shocks on Time Allocation," Documentos CEDE 21133, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Molitor, David & White, Corey, 2024. "Do cities mitigate or exacerbate environmental damages to health?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Shaun McRae, 2023. "Residential Electricity Consumption and Adaptation to Climate Change by Colombian Households," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 253-279, July.
    5. Filomena, Mattia & Picchio, Matteo, 2024. "Unsafe temperatures, unsafe jobs: The impact of weather conditions on work-related injuries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 851-875.
    6. Zhang, Xin & Chen, Fanglin & Chen, Zhongfei & Zhang, Jie, 2024. "Temperature exposure and health inequality," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis A., 2024. "The Economy in its Labyrinth: A Structuralist View of the Mexican Economy in the 21st Century," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 77(2), pages 181-206.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2023. "Climate change and the mortality of the unborn," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Gibney, Garreth & McDermott, Thomas K.J. & Cullinan, John, 2023. "Temperature, morbidity, and behavior in milder climates," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Sam Cosaert & Adrián Nieto & Konstantinos Tatsiramos, 2023. "Temperature and Joint Time Use," CESifo Working Paper Series 10464, CESifo.
    4. Agarwal, Sumit & Qin, Yu & Shi, Luwen & Wei, Guoxu & Zhu, Hongjia, 2021. "Impact of temperature on morbidity: New evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    5. Zhang, Shaohui & Guo, Qinxin & Smyth, Russell & Yao, Yao, 2022. "Extreme temperatures and residential electricity consumption: Evidence from Chinese households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    6. Li, Xue & Smyth, Russell & Xin, Guangyi & Yao, Yao, 2023. "Warmer temperatures and energy poverty: Evidence from Chinese households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    7. Olivier Deschenes, 2022. "The impact of climate change on mortality in the United States: Benefits and costs of adaptation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 1227-1249, August.
    8. Hua Liao & Chen Zhang & Paul J. Burke & Ru Li & Yi‐Ming Wei, 2023. "Extreme temperatures, mortality, and adaptation: Evidence from the county level in China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 953-969, April.
    9. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga & Solomin, Pavel, 2018. "Misfortunes never come singly: Consecutive weather shocks and mortality in Russia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 249-258.
    10. Giuliano Masiero & Fabrizio Mazzonna & Michael Santarossa, 2022. "The effect of absolute versus relative temperature on health and the role of social care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1228-1248, June.
    11. Benedikt Janzen, 2022. "Temperature and Mental Health: Evidence from Helpline Calls," Papers 2207.04992, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    12. García-Witulski, Christian & Rabassa, Mariano Javier & Conte Grand, Mariana & Rozenberg, Julie, 2023. "Valuing mortality attributable to present and future temperature extremes in Argentina," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    13. Yue Hua & Yun Qiu & Xiaoqing Tan, 2023. "The effects of temperature on mental health: evidence from China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1293-1332, July.
    14. Li, Chengzheng & Cong, Jiajia & Yin, Lijuan, 2021. "Extreme heat and exports: Evidence from Chinese exporters," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    15. Meierrieks, Daniel, 2021. "Weather shocks, climate change and human health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Mullins, Jamie T. & White, Corey, 2020. "Can access to health care mitigate the effects of temperature on mortality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Manuela K. Fritz, 2021. "Temperature and non-communicable diseases: Evidence from Indonesia's primary health care system," Working Papers 206, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    18. Hailemariam, Abebe & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Appau, Samuelson, 2023. "Temperature, health and wellbeing in Australia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    19. Li, Xue & Smyth, Russell & Yao, Yao, 2023. "Extreme temperatures and out-of-pocket medical expenditure: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Mariano Javier Rabassa & Christian Garcia-Witulski & Grand Mariana Conte & Julie Rozenberg, 2022. "Valuing mortality attributable to present and future extreme temperatures in Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4590, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Weather; Temperature; Mortality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.