City Size, Family Migration, and Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Rural-Urban Migrants in China

Chunbing Xing, Xiaoyan Yuan () and Junfu Zhang
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Xiaoyan Yuan: Shanghai University

No 15549, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Finding suitable employment in a city is more challenging for married than unmarried migrants. This paper provides empirical evidence that the denser and more diversified labor markets in large cities help alleviate the colocation problem of married couples. Using data from China, we show that the gender wage gap among married migrants is significantly smaller in larger cities, and this is mainly because large cities have higher employer and population densities. Large cities make married women more likely to be employed and to secure suitable jobs after family migration. We find no evidence for alternative explanations for the correlation between city size and married women's relative wages.

Keywords: city size; family migration; colocation choice; gender gap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 O15 R12 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-gen, nep-lma, nep-mig and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2022, 97, 103834

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Journal Article: City size, family migration, and gender wage gap: Evidence from rural–urban migrants in China (2022)
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