Investigating the Validity of Climate Migration: Empirical Evidence from the Most Polluted Countries

The literature generally finds that lower air quality has been an important determinant of migration. This study builds a migration model employing annual data from 2010 to 2019 for the most polluted ten countries to test the validity of migration caused by air pollution through PM2.5 concentration. The Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood method results show that air pollution is one of the most significant determinants of migration from the most polluted countries. Moreover, the low income level also pushes people to migrate more from their origin regions than richer ones. The study provides some policy recommendations for policy-makers in the countries where people breathe the most polluted air: (i) governments should follow growth-promoting economic policies; (ii) environment-friendly production techniques should be implemented to prevent worsening environmental quality; (iii) climate-induced mass migration should be considered while making security policy arrangements.