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Is Environmentally-induced Income Variability a Driver of Human Migration?

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  • Luca Marchiori
  • Jean-François Maystadt
  • Ingmar Schumacher

Abstract

It was recently suggested that the role of environmentally-induced income variability as a determinant of migration has been studied little to none. We provide a theoretical discussion based on a `risk aversion channel' and an overview of the empirical literature on this. We also extend a previous empirical study on 39 sub-Saharan African countries with yearly data from 1960 to 2000 (Marchiori, Maystadt and Schumacher, 2012) by including income variability. Our findings lead us to acknowledge that income variability is a negligible driver of migration decisions at the macroeconomic level.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Marchiori & Jean-François Maystadt & Ingmar Schumacher, 2017. "Is Environmentally-induced Income Variability a Driver of Human Migration?," Working Papers 2017-010, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2017-010
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    5. Sedova, Barbora & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2020. "Who are the climate migrants and where do they go? Evidence from rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

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