Climate anomalies and international migration: A disaggregated analysis for West Africa

Fernanda Martínez Flores, Sveta Milusheva, Arndt Reichert and Ann-Kristin Reitmann

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2024, vol. 126, issue C

Abstract: Migration is one measure that individuals can take to adjust to the adverse impacts of increasingly extreme weather that can arise from climate change. Using novel geo-referenced high-frequency data, we investigate the impact of soil moisture anomalies on migration within West Africa and towards Europe. We estimate that a standard deviation decrease in soil moisture leads to a 2-percentage point drop in the probability of international migration, equivalent to a 25 percent decrease in the number of international migrants. This effect is concentrated during the months that immediately follow the crop-growing season among areas in the middle of the income distribution. The findings suggest that weather anomalies negatively affect agricultural production, leading to liquidity constraints that prevent people from moving internationally.

Keywords: West Africa; Climate; Weather; Migration; Agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 O13 O15 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Climate Anomalies and International Migration: A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa (2021)
Working Paper: Climate anomalies and international migration: A disaggregated analysis for West Africa (2021)
Working Paper: Climate Anomalies and International Migration: A Disaggregated Analysis for West Africa (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:126:y:2024:i:c:s0095069624000718

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2024.102997

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