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The impact of Hurricane Maria on out-migration from Puerto Rico: Evidence from Facebook data

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  • Alexander, Monica
  • Zagheni, Emilio
  • Polimis, Kivan

Abstract

Natural disasters such as hurricanes can cause substantial population out-migration. However, the magnitude of population movements is difficult to estimate using only traditional sources of migration data. We utilize data obtained from Facebook's advertising platform to estimate out-migration from Puerto Rico in the months after Hurricane Maria. We find evidence to indicate a 17.0% increase in the number of Puerto Rican migrants present in the US over the period October 2017 to January 2018. States with the biggest increases were Florida, New York and Pennsylvania, and there were disproportionately larger increases in the 15-30 age groups and for men compared to women. Additionally, we find evidence of subsequent return migration to Puerto Rico over the period January 2018 to March 2018. These results illustrate the power of complementing social media and traditional data to monitor demographic indicators over time, particularly after a shock, such as a natural disaster, to understand large changes in population characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander, Monica & Zagheni, Emilio & Polimis, Kivan, 2019. "The impact of Hurricane Maria on out-migration from Puerto Rico: Evidence from Facebook data," SocArXiv 39s6c, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:39s6c
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/39s6c
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    1. Emilio Zagheni & Ingmar Weber & Krishna Gummadi, 2017. "Leveraging Facebook's Advertising Platform to Monitor Stocks of Migrants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(4), pages 721-734, December.
    2. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:6958-6963 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Dilek Yildiz & Jo Munson & Agnese Vitali & Ramine Tinati & Jennifer A. Holland, 2017. "Using Twitter data for demographic research," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(46), pages 1477-1514.
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    Cited by:

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    5. Mario Marazzi & Boriana Miloucheva & Gustavo J. Bobonis, 2021. "Displacement and Mortality After a Disaster: Deaths of Puerto Ricans in the United States Post-Hurricane Maria," Working Papers tecipa-710, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    6. André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & Sofia Gil‐Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar Weber, 2022. "Is Facebook's advertising data accurate enough for use in social science research? Insights from a cross‐national online survey," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(S2), pages 343-363, December.
    7. Konstantin Boss & Andre Groeger & Tobias Heidland & Finja Krueger & Conghan Zheng, 2023. "Forecasting Bilateral Refugee Flows with High-dimensional Data and Machine Learning Techniques," Working Papers 1387, Barcelona School of Economics.
    8. Peri, Giovanni & Rury, Derek & Wiltshire, Justin C., 2020. "The Economic Impact of Migrants from Hurricane Maria," IZA Discussion Papers 13049, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Zhenjie Liu & Jun Li & Haonan Chen & Lizhe Wang & Jun Yang & Antonio Plaza, 2024. "Prediction of changes in war-induced population and CO2 emissions in Ukraine using social media," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Daniela Perrotta & Sarah C. Johnson & Tom Theile & André Grow & Helga A. G. de Valk & Emilio Zagheni, 2022. "Openness to migrate internationally for a job: evidence from LinkedIn data in Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-007, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    11. Monica Alexander & Kivan Polimis & Emilio Zagheni, 2022. "Combining Social Media and Survey Data to Nowcast Migrant Stocks in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 1-28, February.
    12. Lutfu Saribulut & Gorkem Ok & Arman Ameen, 2023. "A Case Study on National Electricity Blackout of Turkey," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    13. Amílcar Matos-Moreno & Alexis R. Santos-Lozada & Neil Mehta & Carlos F. Mendes de Leon & Félice Lê-Scherban & Amélia A. Lima Friche, 2022. "Migration is the Driving Force of Rapid Aging in Puerto Rico: A Research Brief," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 801-810, June.
    14. Anna-Michelle Marie McSorley & Adrian Matias Bacong, 2023. "Associations between Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Distress: An Analysis of Disaggregated Latinx Subgroups Using Data from the National Health Interview Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-20, March.
    15. Yago Martín & Zhenlong Li & Yue Ge & Xiao Huang, 2021. "Introducing Twitter Daily Estimates of Residents and Non-Residents at the County Level," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    16. Felix L. Friedt & Abigail Crispin, 2022. "The Far Reach of Hurricane Maria:," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 29-71, March.
    17. André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & B. Sofia Gil-Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar G. Weber, 2021. "How reliable is Facebook’s advertising data for use in social science research? Insights from a cross-national online survey," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-006, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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