When education policy drives migration: The impact of reform allowing migrants to take the local “Gaokao” on children’s migration

Susu Wang, Xinfan Yu, Zhixing Wei and Chao Liang

Journal of Asian Economics, 2025, vol. 100, issue C

Abstract: Will higher education opportunities drive people's migration behavior? Exploiting the staggered implementation of the hukou-based exam access reform, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate its effects on children migration. Based on data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey and 2015 Micro-Census, the study finds that permitting migrant children to take the Gaokao in destination regions promotes children migration and significantly reduces the likelihood of children being left behind. Higher college admission rates in destination regions attract more children to migrate, while higher admission rates in origin regions deter their migration. The education-driven migration pattern highlights the need for portable education voucher systems to mitigate hukou-based discrimination.

Keywords: Provincial Quota Gaokao System; Reforms Allowing Migrant Children to Take the Local “Gaokao”; College Admission Rates; Children Migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:asieco:v:100:y:2025:i:c:s1049007825001198

DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101995

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