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Are “left-behind” children really left behind? A lab-in-field experiment concerning the impact of rural/urban status and parental migration on children's other-regarding preferences

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  • Cadsby, C. Bram
  • Song, Fei
  • Yang, Xiaolan

Abstract

Other-regarding preferences have a profound influence on both individual and societal success. In this paper, using a unique sample from China, we study the impact of two family background characteristics: parental migration and rural/urban status on both the level and the developmental formation of other-regarding preferences during childhood. Decades of economic reform have led to an unprecedented growth of economically driven rural-to-urban internal migration in China. Many migrant parents leave their children behind. According to figures from China's 2010 census, more than 61 million children from birth to 17 years were “left behind.” In this lab-in-field experiment, we use three simple allocation games to study samples from four populations: rural children left behind by both parents, rural children left behind by one parent, rural non-left-behind children, and urban children. We expected that the development of altruistic preferences would be positively associated with parental presence. However, we found this was not the case. In fact, among rural children the development of altruistic preferences from Grade 3 to Grade 5 was most pronounced among those who were left-behind by both parents. Moreover, by Grade 5, it was these children whose preferences most resembled those of the urban children.

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  • Cadsby, C. Bram & Song, Fei & Yang, Xiaolan, 2020. "Are “left-behind” children really left behind? A lab-in-field experiment concerning the impact of rural/urban status and parental migration on children's other-regarding preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 715-728.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:179:y:2020:i:c:p:715-728
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.04.007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben & Chen, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Childhood left-behind experience and labour market outcomes in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-207.
    3. Liu, Han & Ackert, Lucy F. & Chang, Fang & Qi, Li & Shi, Yaojiang, 2021. "Social division, trust, and reciprocity among Chinese inmates," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 259-273.
    4. Wang, Jianxin & Yuan, Caiyun & Zhang, Qian & Houser, Daniel, 2023. "Parents’ absence harms norm obedience of girls more than boys," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Li, Lingfang (Ivy) & Wu, Yuting & Zhu, Xun & Chu, Rongwei & Hung, Iris, 2022. "Job Changing Frequency and Experimental Decisions: A Field Study of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Industry," MPRA Paper 115472, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Wang, Siyu & Xu, Hui, 2021. "The impact of parental migration on social identity - A framed field experiment with left-behind children in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 246-257.
    7. Li, Xun & Qiu, Yu, 2021. "Are more children better than one? Evidence from a lab experiment of decision making," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Children; Other-regarding preferences; Social preferences; China; Experiment; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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