Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa

Migration is one of the channels West African populations can use to adjust to the negative impacts of climate change. Using novel geo-referenced and high- frequency data, this study investigates the extent to which soil moisture anomalies drive in...

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Main Authors: Martínez Flores, Fernanda, Milusheva, Sveta, Reichert, Arndt R.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611621275380661/Climate-Anomalies-and-International-Migration-A-Disaggregated-Analysis-for-West-Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35612
id okr-10986-35612
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-356122022-09-20T00:09:52Z Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa Martínez Flores, Fernanda Milusheva, Sveta Reichert, Arndt R. INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION CLIMATE CHANGE SOIL MOISTURE DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACT Migration is one of the channels West African populations can use to adjust to the negative impacts of climate change. Using novel geo-referenced and high- frequency data, this study investigates the extent to which soil moisture anomalies drive international migration decisions within the region and toward Europe. The findings show that drier soil conditions decrease (rather than increase) the probability to migrate. A standard deviation decrease in soil moisture leads to a 2 percentage point drop in the probability to migrate, equivalent to a 25 percent decrease in the number of migrants. This effect is concentrated during the crop-growing season and likely driven by financial constraints. The effect is only seen for areas that are in the middle of the income distribution, with no impact on the poorest or richest areas of a country, suggesting that the former were constrained to start and the latter can address those financial constraints. 2021-05-20T14:49:39Z 2021-05-20T14:49:39Z 2021-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611621275380661/Climate-Anomalies-and-International-Migration-A-Disaggregated-Analysis-for-West-Africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35612 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9664 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa Western and Central (AFW) West Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
CLIMATE CHANGE
SOIL MOISTURE
DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACT
spellingShingle INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
CLIMATE CHANGE
SOIL MOISTURE
DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACT
Martínez Flores, Fernanda
Milusheva, Sveta
Reichert, Arndt R.
Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
geographic_facet Africa
Africa Western and Central (AFW)
West Africa
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9664
description Migration is one of the channels West African populations can use to adjust to the negative impacts of climate change. Using novel geo-referenced and high- frequency data, this study investigates the extent to which soil moisture anomalies drive international migration decisions within the region and toward Europe. The findings show that drier soil conditions decrease (rather than increase) the probability to migrate. A standard deviation decrease in soil moisture leads to a 2 percentage point drop in the probability to migrate, equivalent to a 25 percent decrease in the number of migrants. This effect is concentrated during the crop-growing season and likely driven by financial constraints. The effect is only seen for areas that are in the middle of the income distribution, with no impact on the poorest or richest areas of a country, suggesting that the former were constrained to start and the latter can address those financial constraints.
format Working Paper
author Martínez Flores, Fernanda
Milusheva, Sveta
Reichert, Arndt R.
author_facet Martínez Flores, Fernanda
Milusheva, Sveta
Reichert, Arndt R.
author_sort Martínez Flores, Fernanda
title Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
title_short Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
title_full Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
title_fullStr Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
title_full_unstemmed Climate Anomalies and International Migration : A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa
title_sort climate anomalies and international migration : a disaggregated analysis for west africa
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611621275380661/Climate-Anomalies-and-International-Migration-A-Disaggregated-Analysis-for-West-Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35612
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