Where are the migrants from? Inter- vs. intra-provincial rural-urban migration in China

Yaqin Su, Petros Tesfazion and Zhong Zhao

China Economic Review, 2018, vol. 47, issue C, 142-155

Abstract: Using a representative sample of rural migrants in cities, this paper investigates where the migrants in urban China come from, paying close attention to intra-provincial vs. inter-provincial migrants, and examining the differences in their personal attributes. We find that migrants who have come from within the province differ significantly from those who have come from outside of the province. Using a nested logit model, we find that overall, higher wage differentials, larger population size, higher GDP per capita, and faster employment growth rate are the attributes of a city that attract rural-to-urban migrants. In addition, moving beyond one's home province has a strong deterrent effect on migration, analogous to the “border effect” identified in international migration studies. We also explore the role of culture, institutional barriers, and dialect in explaining such a pronounced “border effect”.

Keywords: Rural-urban migration; Inter- vs. intra-provincial migration; Border effect; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J62 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (51)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Where Are Migrants From? Inter- vs. Intra-Provincial Rural-Urban Migration in China (2018)
Working Paper: Where Are Migrants from? Inter- vs. Intra-Provincial Rural-Urban Migration in China (2017)
Working Paper: Where Are Migrants from? Inter- vs. Intra-Provincial Rural-Urban Migration in China (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:47:y:2018:i:c:p:142-155

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2017.09.004

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