Technical Appendix: What Is the Link Between Hunger and Migration?

This technical appendix details the econometric analysis supporting a policy brief on the relationship between hunger and migration. Using data from 1990 to 2015, the authors examine how international migration stocks are affected by demographic, political, and economic variables, concluding that while population and political stability are robust drivers, the links to poverty and undernourishment are complex and often insignificant in broad samples.

• In the full sample of 215 reporting countries or territories, demographic evolution and political stability are the two robust drivers of migrant flow evolution. Specifically, larger population increases correlate with larger migrant outflows, while increases in political stability correlate with smaller outflows.
• Variables related to undernourishment and poverty were not found to be significant drivers of migration in the full sample. The authors suggest this is partly because North-North migration flows, such as those within Europe, are not driven by extreme poverty or undernourishment, and because extreme poverty can actually hinder migration by depriving people of the necessary monetary or social means to move.
• There is a positive relationship between increases in agricultural labour productivity and migrant flows when a five-year lag is applied. This suggests that productivity gains may reduce the need for farm labour, and migration increases while the domestic economy struggles to absorb the displaced workers, or because higher productivity provides the financial means to support migration.
• Analysis of sub-samples consisting of African countries and countries with poverty rates above 7.5% indicates that economic growth (measured as the log variation of GDP per capita in purchasing power parity) has strong negative impacts on migrant flows.

APA

Laborde, D., & Lallemant, T. (2017). Technical Appendix: What Is the Link Between Hunger and Migration? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/uploads/link-between-hunger-migration-technical-appendix.pdf

Chicago

Laborde, David, and Tess Lallemant. Technical Appendix: What Is the Link Between Hunger and Migration? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/uploads/link-between-hunger-migration-technical-appendix.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Laborde |first1=David |last2=Lallemant |first2=Tess |title=Technical Appendix: What Is the Link Between Hunger and Migration? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=23 May 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/uploads/link-between-hunger-migration-technical-appendix.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{laborde2017technical, author = {Laborde, David and Lallemant, Tess}, title = {{Technical Appendix: What Is the Link Between Hunger and Migration?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/uploads/link-between-hunger-migration-technical-appendix.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }