HPS³ - Vally Koubi - Effect of Non-Work Income on Migration Responses to Environmental Shocks: Evidence from BangladeshWe welcome Vally Koubi on 28 January 2026 to the HPS Seminar Series

28. Januar 2026, 17:15 Uhr

The Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series (HPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.

We welcome on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 17:15-18:45 CET in VMP9 B130

Vally Koubi (University of Berne)

Title: "Effect of Non-Work Income on Migration Responses to Environmental Shocks: Evidence from Bangladesh." co-authored with Hélène Benveniste and Jan Freihardt

Abstract:Climate change is reshaping mobility in ways conditioned not only by environmental exposure but by households’ financial capacities. Using the aspirations– capabilities framework, we argue that distinct forms of non-work income differentially enable or inhibit movement as stress intensifies. We test these claims with original household panel data from 1400 households in 36 villages along a 250-km stretch of Bangladesh’s Jamuna River. Using household fixed effects, we find that environmental stress is associated with higher migration, but the magnitude depends on finance: loans and, to a lesser extent, savings are linked to greater migration under severe shocks, consistent with relaxed liquidity constraints; aid consistently dampens migration by supporting in-place recovery. Remittances exhibit a double role, stabilizing households under moderate stress yet being reallocated to fund relocation when stress becomes acute. Finally, greater diversity of non-work income sources (measured as the number of such streams) appears to enhance adaptive flexibility. The study advances climatemobility theory by disaggregating financial mechanisms and provides rare panel evidence on how finance sorts households into mobility, immobility, and “trapped” outcomes, informing the design of cash transfers and credit instruments for context-appropriate adaptation.

The HPS³ seminars take place  in person at the UHH. Please find the preliminary program on the HPS³ Website.

We invite everyone interested to attend the HPS Seminar Series and are looking forward to seeing you.