THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE: MIGRATION, COMPETITION, AND HUMAN CAPITAL ACCUMULATION IN HISTORIC CHINA

Ying Bai

International Economic Review, 2022, vol. 63, issue 3, 1239-1269

Abstract: By exploiting immigrant spatial variation in 287 prefectures, this study shows that the 1127‐30 Han migration southward in historic China had a significantly positive effect on economic prosperity in the year 2000 (as measured by GDP and nighttime lights per capita). One possible explanation is that the migrant‐local competition since the implementation of the imperial civil service examination has incentivized both migrants and locals to invest in education to better compete with their rivals. These findings remain robust when I instrument migration flow size by the number of northern‐born officials governing southern prefectures during the migration period.

Date: 2022
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