28.06.2021 - How does Climate Variability lead to labor Reallocation?

Dr. Vladimir Otrachshenko presented his work within the SDGnexus Network at the 34th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics and at the 26th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

In his work, Dr. Otrachshenko examines, together with his colleagues, the role of female empowerment in building resilience to climate change. Using data from a novel household survey in Uzbekistan, a lower-middle-income country in Central Asia, the authors focus on the impact of climate variability on household employment choices and investigate whether female empowerment serves as a channel for this relationship. The findings suggest that rainfall variability leads to reallocation of labor: (i) from unemployment to business activities and irregular remunerated activities, and (ii) from being out of labor force to unemployment.

Nevertheless, rainfall variability does not affect the reallocation of labor from unemployment to salaried employment. The effects of climate variability on occupational choices differ in rural and urban areas and by gender.

The impact of climate variability is partially explained by female involvement in decision-making, e.g., in the planning of important family expenses, female labor market participation, or greater freedom in participation in social activities, especially in rural areas. This implies that traditional gender roles may make households in developing countries more vulnerable to adverse consequences of climate change, while female empowerment may smooth such consequences.    "With our findings, we are directly contributing to a better understanding of how SDG 13 (climate actions) is linked to SDG 1 (no poverty)“ Dr. Otrachshenko said. Together with a team of researchers within the SDGnexus Network, he is investigating interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.