This paper analyses the role of environmental factors as determinants of migration flows within Pakistan. The environment has a deep economic value, representing a source of living for most developing economies:exogenous shocks on the environment, determined for instance by extreme climatic events, such as floodings or drought, and the gradual degradation of natural resources, associated with population pressure and human activities, such as deforestation and desertification, might induce human displacement and migration. Because of the deterioration of the environment people could be forced to seek for new opportunities or might choose to look for better opportunities, either temporarily or permanently. The paper proposes a methodological framework to analyse the relationship between environmental factors and the individuals’ choice to migrate, based on the traditional theory on the determinants of migration.

The empirical analysis follows, focused on the study of migration flows within Pakistan. The empirical work exploits a micro data set which contains cross-section socio-economic and demographic information on individuals and their households across Pakistan, which is part of the Living Standard of Measurement Studies (World Bank), and data on forests and climate provided by the Pakistan Statistical Offices.

The paper estimates by maximum likelihood the role of environmental factors and individuals’economic and demographic characteristics in determining their choice to migrate, and provide descriptive statistics on the relevant variables.