Climatic conditions and migration: An econometric inquiry

Abstract

Among a burgeoning literature dealing with the economic and noneconomic determinants of migration, one area that has received relatively little attention is the relationship between climate and migration. In the few studies which include climate variables in models used to explain migration, the treatment accorded to climate as an explanatory variable has not been satisfactory. This paper attempts to fill this void. Our paper first critically reviews the treatment of climate in the migration literature and then proposes alternative ways of dealing with it which represent improvements from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. Our regression results suggest that individuals do indeed consider climatic conditions in different areas when deciding where to live. Our results also indicate that the climate variables which yield the best results are generally those which have not been used in the literature.