A Hierarchical Multilevel Approach in Assessing Factors Explaining Country-Level Climate Change Vulnerability

George Halkos, Antonis Skouloudis, Chrysovalantis Malesios and Nikoleta Jones
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Nikoleta Jones: Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9EP, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Assessing vulnerability is key in the planning of climate change adaptation policies and, more importantly, in determining actions increasing resilience across different locations. This study presents the results of a hierarchical linear multilevel modeling approach that utilizes as dependent variable the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Climate Change Vulnerability Index and explores the relative impact of a number of macro-level characteristics on vulnerability, including GDP, public debt, population, agricultural coverage and sociopolitical and institutional conditions. A 1995–2016 annual time series that yields a panel dataset of 192 countries is employed. Findings suggest that country-level climate change vulnerability is responding (strongly) to the majority of the explanatory variables considered. Findings also confirm that less-developed countries demonstrate increased vulnerability compared to the developed ones and those in transition stages. While these results indeed warrant further attention, they provide a background for a more nuanced understanding of aspects defining country-level patterns of climate vulnerability.

Keywords: climate change vulnerability; country-level index; hierarchical linear multilevel (HLM) model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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