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Spending Time, Spending Resources: The Temperature Effect on Consumption Behavior

Thapaliya, Kushal LU (2025) NEKN01 20251
Department of Economics
Abstract
I investigate how temperature variations influence time allocation for the consumption of various goods and services, focusing on essential and non-essential consumption. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA)'s weather records, I employ fixed-effects regression models to estimate the nonlinear impact of maximum temperature on the purchase of essential consumption, such as consumption goods and groceries, as well as non-essential consumption, such as attending sports tournaments and eating outside the home. I generally observe a U-shaped relationship between temperature and the time spent purchasing essential consumption, indicating increasing consumption with more... (More)
I investigate how temperature variations influence time allocation for the consumption of various goods and services, focusing on essential and non-essential consumption. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA)'s weather records, I employ fixed-effects regression models to estimate the nonlinear impact of maximum temperature on the purchase of essential consumption, such as consumption goods and groceries, as well as non-essential consumption, such as attending sports tournaments and eating outside the home. I generally observe a U-shaped relationship between temperature and the time spent purchasing essential consumption, indicating increasing consumption with more extreme hot and cold temperatures. In contrast, a general inverted U-shaped pattern appears for most non-essential consumptions. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that temperature affects time allocation among people differently, by their family income, and by having a child in the household, especially for non-essential consumption. Mechanism analysis for the primary findings indicates that the pattern in time spent on essential consumption is influenced by changes in time spent at grocery stores, malls, and time spent at home, along with temperature. Similarly, the pattern of time spent on non-essential consumption is shaped by how time is spent outdoors, at the gym, and in restaurants. (Less)
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author
Thapaliya, Kushal LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKN01 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Temperature Shocks, Essential Consumption, Non-essential Consumption, Time Allocation.
language
English
id
9194750
date added to LUP
2025-09-12 10:00:37
date last changed
2025-09-12 10:00:37
@misc{9194750,
  abstract     = {{I investigate how temperature variations influence time allocation for the consumption of various goods and services, focusing on essential and non-essential consumption. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA)'s weather records, I employ fixed-effects regression models to estimate the nonlinear impact of maximum temperature on the purchase of essential consumption, such as consumption goods and groceries, as well as non-essential consumption, such as attending sports tournaments and eating outside the home. I generally observe a U-shaped relationship between temperature and the time spent purchasing essential consumption, indicating increasing consumption with more extreme hot and cold temperatures. In contrast, a general inverted U-shaped pattern appears for most non-essential consumptions. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that temperature affects time allocation among people differently, by their family income, and by having a child in the household, especially for non-essential consumption. Mechanism analysis for the primary findings indicates that the pattern in time spent on essential consumption is influenced by changes in time spent at grocery stores, malls, and time spent at home, along with temperature. Similarly, the pattern of time spent on non-essential consumption is shaped by how time is spent outdoors, at the gym, and in restaurants.}},
  author       = {{Thapaliya, Kushal}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Spending Time, Spending Resources: The Temperature Effect on Consumption Behavior}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}