Working Paper #2016-040
Natural disasters and human mobility
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
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- natural disasters
- forced migration
- channels
- remittances
- migration as insurance
- floods
- earthquakes
- droughts
- JEL codes
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- J61
- O15
- Q54
- Q56
Cite this as
APA 7th ed.Mbaye, L. M., & Zimmermann, K. F. (2016). Natural disasters and human mobility (UNU-MERIT Working Paper No. 2016-040). UNU-MERIT. https://unu-merit.nl/publications/working-papers/abstract/?id=6082