This study investigates how geographic isolation interacts with declining environmental and economic conditions in Kiribati, an island nation wherein which limited access to financial resources amidst degrading environmental conditions potentially constrain capital-intensive, long-distance migration. We examine whether geographic isolation modifies the tenets of two dominant environmental migration theses. The environmental scarcity thesis suggests that environmental degradation prompts migration by urging households to reallocate labor to new environments. In contrast, the environmental capital thesis asserts that declining natural resource availability restricts capital necessary for migration. Results show that the commonly applied environmental scarcity thesis is less valid and the environmental capital thesis is more relevant in geographically isolated places. Findings indicate that geographic isolation is an important dimension along which migration differences emerge. As overall environmental and economic conditions worsen, likelihoods of out-migration from less remote islands increase whereas likelihoods of out-migration from more isolated islands decrease.

中文翻译：

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地理隔离对环境迁移的不同影响：中太平洋退化条件下的内部迁移研究

这项研究调查了地理隔离如何与基里巴斯不断恶化的环境和经济条件相互作用，基里巴斯是一个岛国，在环境条件恶化的情况下限制了金融资源的获取，这可能会限制资本密集型的​​长距离迁移。我们研究了地理隔离是否会改变两个主要环境迁移论文的原则。环境稀缺性理论表明，环境退化通过促使家庭将劳动力重新分配到新环境来促进迁移。相比之下，环境资本论断言，自然资源可用性的下降限制了迁移所需的资本。结果表明，普遍应用的环境稀缺性理论有效性较低，而环境资本理论在地理上孤立的地方更相关。调查结果表明，地理隔离是移民差异出现的一个重要方面。随着整体环境和经济状况恶化，从较偏远岛屿向外迁移的可能性增加，而从较孤立岛屿向外迁移的可能性降低。