A note on specification of climate variables in models of population migration

"In the literature on population migration, increasing attention has been devoted to quality-of-life factors. Measures of temperature (as proxies for climate) have frequently been employed in empirical work regarding the determinants of population migration decisions. A wide range of such specifications have been used, most of which imply restrictions on the preferences of migrants. In this paper, a variety of temperature variable specifications are analyzed and interpreted. Statistical tests for nested and nonnested hypotheses are used to compare and choose among the various specifications." The model is used to analyze interstate migration in the 48 contiguous states of the United States for the period 1975-1980.