To Go or not to Go: Migration Alleviates Climate Damages even for Those Who Stay Behind

Soheil Shayegh and Greg P. Casey
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Greg P. Casey: Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University

No 2017.55, Working Papers from Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei

Abstract: We examine the effect of climate change on fertility rates and human capital accumulation in developing countries, focusing on the instrumental role of migration. In particular, we investigate how climate-induced migration in developing countries will affect those who do not migrate. Holding all else constant, climate shocks raise the return to acquiring skills, because skilled individuals compared to unskilled ones have greater opportunity to migrate after the shock. In response to this change in incentives, parents choose to invest more in education and have less children, a process known as the ‘quantity-quality’ trade-off. These effects partially offset the damages of climate change, even for those who do not migrate.

Keywords: Migration; Climate Change; Fertility; Population; Wage; Quantity-quality Tradeoff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-mig
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: To Go or not to Go: Migration Alleviates Climate Damages even for Those Who Stay Behind (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fem:femwpa:2017.55

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