Rural Land Transfer and Urban Settlement Intentions of Rural Migrants: Evidence from a Rural Land System Reform in China

Yinxin Su, Mingzhi Hu and Yuzhe Wu
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Yinxin Su: School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Yuzhe Wu: School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this paper provides new evidence on the impact of rural land transfer on urban settlement intentions of rural migrants. There was a rural land system reform in rural China that provided increased compensation for rural land expropriation and allowed the transaction of collective construction land for business purposes. We determine an increase in urban settlement intentions of rural migrants following the reform as an exogenous change in rural land transfer of rural migrants. We examine two mechanisms that may explain how the reform increased the settlement intentions of rural migrants, and our empirical evidence suggests that the reform increased social integration and reduced rural place attachment of rural migrants. Furthermore, we determine variations in the effect of the reform across migrants of various ages, social security benefits, and migration distances. Overall, this study extends the implications of the market-oriented rural land reform to sustainable and inclusive urbanization and highlights the role of social integration and rural place attachment in migration decisions.

Keywords: migrant; settlement intention; land transfer; land reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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