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Has Rural-Urban Migration Promoted the Health of Chinese Migrant Workers?

Author

Listed:
  • Cuihong Long

    (School of Economics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Jiajun Han

    (School of Economics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Yong Liu

    (School of Economics, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China)

Abstract

The relationship between health and migration has always been an important theme in immigration research. This research develops a new approach to test the healthy migrant hypothesis and the salmon bias hypothesis in China by examining an interaction term combining agricultural hukou and migrant status, non-agricultural employment history, and subsequent area of residence. Based on two Chinese micro-databases, CGSS 2015 and Harmonized CHARLS, we conducted an empirical test on the relationship between migration and health. Our empirical evidence suggests that the initial health advantage among Chinese rural migrant workers was largely due to self-selection rather than migration effects. After controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, this advantage disappeared. After their health deteriorated, migrant workers returned to their original location. This could exacerbate the contradiction between the allocation of medical resources and the demand in rural and urban China, further intensifying the already widening health status gap between rural and urban residents.

Suggested Citation

  • Cuihong Long & Jiajun Han & Yong Liu, 2020. "Has Rural-Urban Migration Promoted the Health of Chinese Migrant Workers?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:4:p:1218-:d:320409
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chun Li & Jianhua He & Xingwu Duan, 2020. "The Relationship Exploration between Public Migration Attention and Population Migration from a Perspective of Search Query," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Xia Sun & Juan Chen & Shenghua Xie, 2022. "Becoming Urban Citizens: A Three-Phase Perspective on the Social Integration of Rural–Urban Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Nan Sun & Fan Yang, 2024. "Effects and Mechanisms of Rural‒Urban Migration on Health in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-23, April.

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