The Impacts of Climate Variability on Welfare in Rural Mexico

This paper examines the impacts of weather shocks, defined as rainfall or growing degree days more than a standard deviation from their respective long-run means, on household consumption per capita and child height-for-age. The results reveal that the current risk-coping mechanisms are not effective in protecting these two dimensions of welfare from erratic weather patterns. These findings imply that the change in the patterns of climatic variability associated with climate change is likely to reduce the effectiveness of the current coping mechanisms even more and thus increase household vulnerability further. The results reveal that weather shocks have substantial (negative as well as positive) effects on welfare that vary across regions (North vs. Center and South) and socio-economic characteristics (education and gender). The heterogeneous impacts of climatic variability suggest that a "tailored" approach to designing programs aimed at decreasing the sensitivity and increasing the capacity of rural households to adapt to climate change in Mexico is likely to be more effective.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Vinha, Katja, Skoufias, Emmanuel, Conroy, Hector V.
Language:	English
Published:	2011-02-01
Subjects:	ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT, ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, ACCESS TO PRIMARY EDUCATION, AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT, AGRICULTURAL POLICY, AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, AGRICULTURAL REVENUE, AIR, ALTITUDE, ARID NORTH, ARID REGION, AVERAGE RAINFALL, BASE TEMPERATURE, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE DATA, CLIMATE RESEARCH, CLIMATIC CHANGE, CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS, CLIMATIC CONDITIONS, CLIMATIC FACTORS, CLIMATIC RISK, CLIMATIC VARIABILITY, COLD TEMPERATURES, COLD WEATHER, CONSUMPTION DATA, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES PER CAPITA, COPING MECHANISMS, CROP YIELDS, CULTIVATED LAND, CURRENT POVERTY, DAILY TEMPERATURE, DECREASE IN RAINFALL, DEGREE DAYS, DISASTERS, DROUGHT, DRY SEASON, ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLIMATE, ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ELECTRICITY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, EXTREME EVENT, EXTREME POVERTY, EXTREME TEMPERATURES, EXTREME WEATHER, EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, FAMILIES, FARMER, FLOODS, FOOD AVAILABILITY, FOOD CONSUMPTION, FOOD EXPENDITURES, FOOD INTAKE, FOOD POLICY, FOOD SECURITY, FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, FREEZE, FROST, GAMBLING, GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH EXPENDITURES, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HEALTH SERVICES, HOUSEHOLD HEAD, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD VULNERABILITY, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN HEALTH, HUMIDITY, HURRICANES, IMPACT OF CLIMATE, IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, IMPACTS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY, INCIDENCE OF DISEASE, INCOME FLUCTUATIONS, INCOME SHOCK, INCOME SHOCKS, INCOME SMOOTHING, INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE, INFECTIOUS DISEASES, INFLUENZA, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, INTERVENTION, IPCC, ISOLATION, MALNUTRITION, MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE, MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES, MEAN RAINFALL, MEAN TEMPERATURE, MEDICINES, METEOROLOGICAL DATA, METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION, METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS, MIGRATION, MINIMUM TEMPERATURE, MINIMUM TEMPERATURES, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, NATURAL DISASTERS, NEGATIVE IMPACT, NEGATIVE IMPACTS, NUTRITION, NUTRITION REVIEW, PEDIATRICS, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POORER FAMILIES, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY STATUS, PP, PRECIPITATION, PRODUCTION PROCESS, PUBLIC HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE, RAIN, RAINFALL, REGIONAL DIFFERENCES, REGIONAL WELFARE, RURAL AREAS, RURAL CREDIT, RURAL HOUSEHOLD, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, SAFETY NETS, SCHOOLING, SEASON, SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SUBSISTENCE, TEMPERATE CLIMATES, TEMPERATURE, TEMPERATURE DEVIATIONS, TEMPERATURE EFFECTS, TEMPERATURE INCREASE, TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS, TEMPERATURES, THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, VARIABILITY OF CLIMATE, VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY, WARMER TEMPERATURES, WATER AVAILABILITY, WATER USE, WEATHER CONDITIONS, WEATHER INFORMATION, WEATHER PATTERNS, WEATHER STATIONS, WEATHER VARIABILITY, WELFARE MEASURE, WET SEASON, WIND, WMO,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110201090740 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3325
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