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The evolution of rural labor migration networks in the digital revolution: Evidence from China

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  • Wang, Heting
  • Wang, Huijuan
  • Guan, Rong

Abstract

This study investigates how the digital economy reshapes interprovincial rural labor migration networks in China. Using 126,049 mobility records from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (2012–2017), we construct a directed migration network and employ a Temporal Exponential Random Graph Model (TERGM) to evaluate the impact of digital economic development on migration corridor formation. Our findings reveal that digital infrastructure exerts a labor substitution effect, whereas digital industrialization and industrial digitization drive job creation. These forces significantly reconfigure rural labor mobility. Furthermore, these impacts are highly asymmetric, leading to divergent patterns in regional in-migration and out-migration. Channel analysis suggests that these patterns are related to changes in industrial structure, regional innovation vitality, and wage levels. Heterogeneity analysis indicates more pronounced crowding-out patterns among older and low- to medium-skilled workers, as well as those employed in manufacturing. Conversely, creation patterns manifest more distinctly among high-skilled workers and in services industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Heting & Wang, Huijuan & Guan, Rong, 2026. "The evolution of rural labor migration networks in the digital revolution: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1376-1403.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:91:y:2026:i:c:p:1376-1403
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2026.05.003
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