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Migrate for education: An unintended effect of school district combination in rural China

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  • Liu, Jing
  • Xing, Chunbing

Abstract

A large number of village primary schools in rural China were closed since the 1990s. This paper studies the impact of the reduction in the number of primary schools on the migration decision of rural residents. First, using China Health and Nutrition Survey that contains information on community characteristics, we find that both the disappearance of village primary school and the increased distance to nearby primary school increased the migration probability of village residents. Second, using the 1% population survey in 2005 and prefecture level information, we find that the decline in the number of primary schools between 2000 and 2004 increased the migration probability of rural residents. Exploring the heterogeneous effects, we find that the migration of individuals with primary-school-age children is more sensitive to the relocation of primary schools, and that the effect is stronger for families with boys than those with girls. These results suggest that human capital investment motive and regional education policy play an important role in China's urbanization process.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Jing & Xing, Chunbing, 2016. "Migrate for education: An unintended effect of school district combination in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 192-206.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:40:y:2016:i:c:p:192-206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2016.07.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Haepp, Tobias & Lyu, Lidan, 2018. "The Impact of Primary School Investment Reallocation on Educational Attainment in Rural Areas of the People’s Republic of China," ADBI Working Papers 821, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    2. Carl Lin & Yan Sun & Chunbing Xing, 2021. "Son Preference and Human Capital Investment among China’s Rural-urban Migrant Households," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(12), pages 2077-2094, December.
    3. Geng, Bo & Tian, Yugang & Zhang, Lihao & Chen, Bo, 2023. "Evolution and its driving forces of rural settlements along the roadsides in the northeast of Jianghan Plain, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Cai, Weixian & Chen, Gong & Zhu, Feng, 2017. "Has the compulsory school merger program reduced the welfare of rural residents in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 123-141.
    5. Huang, Naqun & Ning, Guangjie & Rong, Zhao, 2022. "Destination homeownership and labor force participation: Evidence from rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Xie, Gang & Zhang, Lei, 2022. "Effects of school closure on household labor supply: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Emily Hannum & Xiaoying Liu & Fan Wang, 2021. "Estimating the Effects of Educational System Consolidation: The Case of China’s Rural School Closure Initiative," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(1), pages 485-528.
    8. Hao Wang & Jan Fidrmuc & Qi Luo & Mingzhong Luo, 2018. "What Stayers Do? Capital Endowments and On-Farm Transitions in Rural China," CESifo Working Paper Series 7306, CESifo.
    9. Yang, Guanyi & Bansak, Cynthia, 2020. "Does wealth matter? An assessment of China's rural-urban migration on the education of left-behind children," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Migration; Rural China; Primary education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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