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Large City or Small Town: an Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Migration Strategies of Rural Households on Income in China

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  • Jiangsheng Chen

    (Northwest A&F University)

  • Caixian Cui

    (Northwest A&F University)

Abstract

It is widely recognized that migration has a great impact on households’ quality of life, and income is an important indicator for evaluating success of a migration (or mobility) strategy. Using data drawn from a family survey conducted in 2014, this paper analyzes the characteristics of four types of rural households: traditional agricultural family (TAF), mobility in a local small town (MST), semi-migrant family (SMF), and migrant in a large city (MLC). We isolated the impact of geographic and occupational mobility on the income of rural families. Findings reveal that there is a preference among rural households to live and work in a small town and that family income has a strong positive correlation with occupational change and family geographic mobility. The locations of family or work are shown to have important effects on family income, and moving to a much less developed city (small town) may be a way to increase income in an impoverished household.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiangsheng Chen & Caixian Cui, 2018. "Large City or Small Town: an Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Migration Strategies of Rural Households on Income in China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 211-228, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:13:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11482-017-9521-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-017-9521-z
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