Globalization, Climate-induced Migration, and Inequality

This chapter explores the complex intersection of climate-induced migration and globalization. It examines whether globalization can serve as a remedy for environmental migrants and under what conditions it may reduce income inequality between migrants and non-migrants. Using a micro-theoretic framework with general equilibrium linkages, the analysis reveals that while globalization can cushion the effects of climate-driven migration, it may simultaneously exacerbate income inequality. Importantly, this outcome is conditional on the factor-intensity ranking between the climate-vulnerable and climate-neutral sectors. The direction and magnitude of both migration and inequality effects are shown to depend on whether the vulnerable sector is relatively more labor- or capital-intensive compared to the neutral sector.