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Telecommunications externality on migration : evidence from Chinese Villages

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  • Lu, Yi
  • Xie, Huihua
  • Xu, Lixin Colin

Abstract

This paper uses a unique natural experiment in Chinese villages to investigate whether access to telecommunications-- in particular, landline phones -- increases the likelihood of outmigration. By using regional and time variations in the installation of landline phones, the difference-in-differences estimation shows that access to landline phones increases the ratio of out-migrant workers by 2 percentage points, or about 50 percent of the sample mean in China. The results remain robust to a battery of validity checks. Furthermore, landline phones affect outmigration through two channels: information access to job opportunities and timely contact with left-behind family members. The findings underscore the positive migration externality of expanding telecommunications access in rural areas, especially in places where migration potential is large.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Yi & Xie, Huihua & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2013. "Telecommunications externality on migration : evidence from Chinese Villages," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6644, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6644
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    Cited by:

    1. Zheng Cai & Shengsheng Li & Di Cheng, 2023. "Has Digital Village Construction Improved Rural Family Resilience in China? Evidence Based on China Household Finance Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Sheng Liu & Ming Bai & Min Yao & Ke Huang, 2021. "Identifying the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the spatial disparity of population hollowing in traditional villages within a prefecture-level city," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Fang, Lan & Quan, Yurong & Mao, Hui & Chen, Shaojian, 2022. "The Information Communication Technology and Off-farm Employment of Rural Laborers: An Analysis Based on the Micro Data of China Family Panel Studies," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322088, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Danyang Li & Daizo Kojima & Laping Wu & Mitsuyoshi Ando, 2024. "Impact of rural households' digital ability on their production efficiency in China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 139-160, January.
    5. Ping Xue & Xinru Han & Yongchun Wang & Xiudong Wang, 2022. "Can Agricultural Machinery Harvesting Services Reduce Cropland Abandonment? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    E-Business; Population Policies; Access to Finance; ICT Policy and Strategies; Anthropology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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