Lineage networks, urban migration and income inequality: Evidence from rural China

Jeremy Foltz, Yunnan Guo and Yang Yao

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2020, vol. 48, issue 2, 465-482

Abstract: This work focuses on the role that Chinese lineage networks can play in alleviating income inequality in rural villages through their effect on migration from rural to urban areas. Unique panel data from rural China identifies lineage networks (ancestral hall and genealogy) and provides detailed information on income and migration experiences. Our key finding is that lineage networks increase migration for all social groups by lowering costs, and this pattern is more salient for the poor. Consequently, this population accumulates greater wealth, which decreases income inequality in origin villages. The estimation results remain robust to both the inclusion of exogenous subsamples and an instrumental variables strategy using the effect of historical natural disasters on current lineage ancestral hall or genealogy. The analysis in this paper, coupled with an emerging empirical literature on networks and migration, provides a new perspective on how income inequality in a fast-growing economy varies with access to social networks.

Keywords: Lineage networks; Ancestral hall; Genealogy; Persistent inequality; Urban migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J61 O15 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:48:y:2020:i:2:p:465-482

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2020.03.003

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