Adaptation to Climate Variability: Evidence for German Households

Using panel data originating from two household surveys conducted in 2012 and 2014, we investigate German households' adaptation behavior in response to indoor heat stress during summer months. Providing detailed information of household characteristics, behavior and technical equipment, our database allows us to estimate a random effects probit model on households' vulnerability and adaptive capacity. The estimates indicate that even moderate increases in temperatures are sufficient to trigger investments in adaptation measures: While the propensity to adapt is heterogeneous across socio-economic groups, an increase of one degree Celsius in average summer temperature is associated with a rise of 2.3 percentage points in adaptation probability.