Environment matters: new evidence from Mexican migration

ABSTRACT

This articleexamines the effects of climate-related environmental disasters on migration. Results from the gravity model estimations show that these disasters are a significant determinant of internal Mexican migration. The findings remain robust when controlling for geographic characteristics, the income levels and labour market conditions of the sending and receiving states. Environmental shocks relating to precipitation from a previous period seem to be one of the main drivers of this effect.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• environmental disasters
• gravity model
• Mexico

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• Q54
• C51
• O15

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Plukas Thesis Prize for research [N/A].