Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/232804 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14052
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We analyze the impact of climate events on migration among a cohort of young adults residing in rural Madagascar. We find a strong negative impact of drought on the decision of youth to migrate in the year after the adverse weather shock. Household assets and access to savings institutions attenuate this impact, consistent with the notion that wealth and savings cushion the blow of the shock on the resources required to finance migration. We also find that households that report more social connections outside their villages are more likely to have their young adult members migrate. Our findings suggest that the liquidity constraints from climate shocks that prevent youth migration are more binding for young women who migrate largely for reasons of marriage and education. Males, in contrast, are more likely to migrate in search of employment, which often has higher economic returns than migration motivated by marriage and education. These factors likely explain why drought deters migration of young women, but not so for young men who still choose to migrate in search of a job.
Subjects: 
climate shocks
Madagascar
youth migration
internal migration
JEL: 
O15
J13
N3
N57
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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