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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Skoufias, Emmanuel, Vinha, Katja, Conroy, Hector V.
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
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 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3325

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Summary:	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.

The Impacts of Climate Variability on Welfare in Rural Mexico

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