Aging, migration, and structural transformation in China

Huoqing Cao, Shiyi Chen and Xican Xi

Economic Modelling, 2023, vol. 126, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the interaction of laborforce aging and structural transformation in China. Empirically, laborforce aging has occurred much faster in agriculture, and rural–urban migration, the key driving force of structural transformation, was lower among old workers. We build a two-sector spatial equilibrium model featuring heterogeneous migration costs across workers. Our quantitative exercises calibrate the model to the Chinese data, implying that the higher migration costs facing old workers account for about 1/3 of laborforce aging in agriculture between 2000 and 2010. Furthermore, the aging of the aggregate labor force slows the reallocation of labor from agriculture by 1.6 percentage points.

Keywords: Laborforce aging; Structural transformation; Migration barriers; Spatial equilibrium (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E02 J11 O11 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:126:y:2023:i:c:s0264999323002420

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106430

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