Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China

Clément Imbert, Marlon Seror, Yifan Zhang and Yanos Zylberberg

Bristol Economics Discussion Papers from School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effect of rural-urban migration on urban production in China. We use longitudinal data on manufacturing firms between 2001 and 2006 and exploit exogenous variation in rural-urban migration due to agricultural price shocks. Following a migrant inflow, labor costs decline and employment expands. Labor productivity decreases sharply and remains low in the medium run. A quantitative framework suggests that destinations become too labor-abundant and migration mostly benefits low-productivity firms within locations. As migrants select into high-productivity destinations, migration however strongly contributes to the equalization of factor productivity across locations.

Keywords: China; productivity. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-sbm, nep-tra and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China (2022)
Working Paper: Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China (2020)
Working Paper: Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China (2020)
Working Paper: Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China (2018)
Working Paper: Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:uobdis:19/713

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