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How Temperature Affects Workplace Productivity : The Indicator from Planet Money Office temperature can affect more than comfort; a recent study shows it has serious implications for productivity. We talked to one economist who quantified the effects of temperature on men and women.
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The Battle For The Office Thermostat

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The Battle For The Office Thermostat

The Indicator from Planet Money

The Battle For The Office Thermostat

The Battle For The Office Thermostat

Listen · 9:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/730438603/738912382" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Sarah Gonzalez
Rachel Cohn

There's a workplace truism: Women are always cold and want the office to be warmer, and men are always overheated and want the office to be cooler.

Men and women used to have to just fight it out for the right to control the thermostat. But now, there's a quantitative study that can inform this debate.

The study breaks down precisely how temperature affects the productivity and cognitive abilities of men and women.

We talk to one of the economists behind that paper, "Battle For The Thermostat"

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