Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282837 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16710
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper introduces the concept of "climate matching" as a driver of migration and establishes several new results. First, we show that climate strongly predicts the spatial distribution of immigrants in the US, both historically (1880) and more recently (2015), whereby movers select destinations with climates similar to their place of origin. Second, we analyze historical flows of German, Norwegian, and domestic migrants in the US and document that climate sorting also holds within countries. Third, we exploit variation in the long-run change in average US climate from 1900 to 2019 and find that migration increased more between locations whose climate converged. Fourth, we verify that results are not driven by the persistence of ethnic networks or other confounders, and provide evidence for two complementary mechanisms: climate-specific human capital and climate as amenity. Fifth, we back out the value of climate similarity by: i) exploiting the Homestead Act, a historical policy that changed relative land prices; and, ii) examining the relationship between climate mismatch and mortality. Finally, we project how climate change shapes the geography of US population growth by altering migration patterns, both historically and into the 21st century.
Subjects: 
migration
climate matching
value of climate
JEL: 
J15
J61
N31
N32
Q54
R11
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
36.45 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.