Revisiting the climate driver and inhibitor mechanisms of international migration

Resource type
Journal Article
Author/contributor
Title
Revisiting the climate driver and inhibitor mechanisms of international migration
Abstract
In this paper, we add to the literature on the driving forces of international migration out of Africa. We particularly focus on the direct effect of climate variables: temperature, rainfall, and weather-related disaster. We revisit the question whether climate is a driver or inhibitor of migration using migration flows out of all African countries from 1980 to 2015 into 16 OECD countries. Our findings show that climate can be a driver and an inhibitor of migration depending on the size of the temperature shock. We show that temperature has non-linear effects on migration. We observe a U-shaped relationship for temperature at destination and an inverted U-shaped relationship at origin. We also find that the agricultural pathway does quantitatively matter: countries relying more heavily on agriculture experience larger migration flows. Finally, weather-related disaster also have a significant effect on international migration.
Publication
Climate and Development
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
10-20
Date
2020-01-18
ISSN
1756-5529
Call Number
openalex: W2999804001
Extra
openalex: W2999804001 mag: 2999804001
Citation
Wesselbaum, D. (2020). Revisiting the climate driver and inhibitor mechanisms of international migration. Climate and Development, 13(1), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2020.1711700
Theme