Economic Drivers of Migration and Climate Change in LDCs
Written by: Helene Bie Lilleør and Kathleen Van Den Broeck
Environmental migration is a topic which has given rise to widespread debate and gloomy predictions about the state of the world in 2050, but where rigorous research and empirical evidence are unfortunately in short supply. In this paper, the authors review the existing research on and empirical evidence of how climate change and climate variability in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) affects two main drivers of migration identified by migration models in the economic literature, namely income level differentials between origin and destination areas and income variability in origin areas, and how they in turn affect migration.
Related publications

Scientific journal
Economic drivers of migration and climate change in LDCs
Go to Global Environmental ChangeLatest releases on the same welfare topic

Analysis
The national well-being surveys provide little meaningful insight into the well-being at individual schools
June 2025

Research report
Attrition in longitudinal surveys and estimates of the effect of health on the employment of older workers
June 2025

Research report
Health and employment of older workers – an analysis using administrative data
June 2025

Knowledge overview
Health Declines After Age 45 Contribute Only Modestly to the Drop in Employment by Age 70
June 2025