Natural disasters and human mobility

Linguere Mbaye and Klaus Zimmermann ()

No 2016-040, MERIT Working Papers from United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)

Abstract: This paper reviews the effect of natural disasters on human mobility or migration. Although there is an increase of natural disasters and migration recently and more patterns to observe, the relationship remains complex. While some authors find that disasters increase migration, others show that they have only a marginal or no effect or are even negative. Human mobility appears to be an insurance mechanism against environmental shocks and there are different transmission channels which can explain the relationship between natural disasters and migration. Moreover, migrants' remittances help to decrease households' vulnerability to shocks but also dampen their adverse effects. The paper provides a discussion of policy implications and potential future research avenues.

Keywords: natural disasters; forced migration; remittances; Insurance; droughts; earthquakes; floods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J61 O15 Q54 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-08-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-ltv, nep-mig and nep-sog
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2016/wp2016-040.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Natural Disasters and Human Mobility (2016)
Working Paper: Natural Disasters and Human Mobility (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unm:unumer:2016040

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