An Empirical Exploration of the Population‐Environment Nexus in India

Abstract

This article presents an empirical study of population growth and environmental change using cross‐section district‐level data from South, Central, and West India. Environmental change is measured using a satellite‐based vegetation index. Unlike prior work, the analysis treats population growth and environmental change as jointly determined, distinguishes between rural and urban populations, and distinguishes between two components of population growth, natural growth and migration. Among key findings are that environmental decline spurs rural population growth and net rural in‐migration, which prompt further environmental decline; environmental improvement spurs urban population growth and net urban in‐migration; and environmental scarcity spurs environmental improvement.

Keywords: environmental degradation, population growth, satellite data