Migrant Regularization as Climate Adaptation

Francesco Amodio (), Elia Benveniste (), Mario F. Carillo () and Marc Riudavets-Barcons ()
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Francesco Amodio: McGill University, BREAD, CEPR and IGC.
Elia Benveniste: European Bank for Reconstruction and Developmet
Mario F. Carillo: Departament of Applied Economics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain & IPEG
Marc Riudavets-Barcons: Universitat de Girona

Working Papers from Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona

Abstract: We show that granting migrants legal status enables climate adaptation by making extreme heat less dangerous. We study how Spain’s 2005 regularization of about 600,000 undocumented migrants affected heat-related hospitalizations of working-age individuals, mostly heatstrokes from strenuous work. A triple-difference design exploits the reform’s timing, cross-provincial variation in pre-reform undocumented shares, and within-province heat shocks. Post-reform, an additional day above 35°C became 3.3 percentage points less likely to cause a heat-related hospitalization in exposed provinces, a 9.4% decline from the pre-reform mean. Migrants reallocated away from agriculture, the most heat-exposed sector. Labor market institutions can facilitate climate adaptation.

Keywords: amnesty programs; climate adaptation; working conditions; extreme heat. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2026-10
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