The effects of internal migration on residential energy consumption and CO2 emissions: A case study in Hanoi

The objective of this research is to estimate the potential effects of migration on residential energy use and CO2 emissions in Hanoi, Vietnam, a location in which urbanization and migration are occurring simultaneously. This article estimates the effects of migration on residential energy use and CO2 emissions quantitatively, basing the probability of being a migrant on the economic, demographic and dwelling characteristics of households. The results of this study indicate that the effects of migration involve reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Urban-to-urban migration is shown to have no statistically significant impact on per capita energy consumption and CO2 emissions, which indicates that population increases through urban-to-urban population growth and natural population growth have no statistically significant differences in this regard. However, rural-to-urban migration is shown to have a significant and negative influence on residential energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Population growth led by rural-to-urban migration produces lower energy consumption estimates than natural population growth. Thus, energy consumption estimates are lower when a city's population increase is caused by rural-to-urban migration than when urban-to-urban migration and natural population growth are the main drivers of population increases. These results have important policy implications for developing urban cities regarding population growth and energy consumption. 2013 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.