Mardi | 2013-02-12
B103

Ingrid DALLIMANN – Katrin MILLOCK

We match data from the Indian census of 1991 and 2001 with climate data to test the hypothesis of climate variability as a push factor for internal migration. The main contribution of the analysis is to introduce relevant meteorological indicators of climate variability, based on the standardized precipitation index. Gravity-type estimations based on a utility maximization approach cannot reject the null hypothesis that the frequency of drought acts as a push factor on inter-state migration in India. Drought duration and magnitude as well as flood events are never statistically significant.