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The quiet revolution: Send-down movement and female empowerment in China

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  • Liu, Chong
  • Lu, Wenyi
  • Yuan, Ye

Abstract

What promotes female empowerment and gender equality? We investigate how internal population mobility and social interaction foster the advancement of female empowerment and gender equality across diverse subpopulations. Using the urban-to-rural youth resettlement program in China during the 1970s — the Send-down Movement — as our empirical context, we find that rural females with greater exposure to urban youths have achieved higher levels of education, increased labor force participation, greater financial independence, enhanced autonomy in marital and fertility decisions, increased political engagement, heightened self-confidence, reduced risk aversion, and a stronger belief in gender-equal ideologies and social values. Our findings underscore the role of population mobility in disseminating gender-equal ideologies and practices, both through human capital formation and social interactions, leading to lasting impacts on female empowerment in traditional societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Chong & Lu, Wenyi & Yuan, Ye, 2025. "The quiet revolution: Send-down movement and female empowerment in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s0304387824001287
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103379
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Female empowerment; Gender equality; Migration; Population mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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