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Homesteads, Identity, and Urbanization of Migrant Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Weite Cheng

    (School of Modern Industry for Selenium Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China)

  • Shuiyuan Cheng

    (School of Modern Industry for Selenium Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China)

  • Haitao Wu

    (School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China)

  • Qian Wu

    (Department of Economics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA)

Abstract

The key to advancing urbanization is to promote the urban integration of numerous migrant workers. Two stages of decision making are involved for migrant workers, including residence (staying in cities) and settlement (transferring hukou into cities). The homestead is a necessity for migrant workers to keep their “peasant” status, which will further affect migrant workers’ identification with cities and influence their decision making towards urbanization. This paper uses data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), through the coarsened exact matching (CEM) method and the analysis of mediation effects, to estimate how homesteads influence migrant workers’ urbanization intention and how the sense of identity serves as a mediator variable in this mechanism. Empirical results show that the ownership of homesteads is negatively correlated with migrant workers’ urbanization intention. Migrant workers with homesteads are 1.2% less likely to stay and 4.4% less likely to settle down in cities compared with their counterparts who do not have a homestead. In addition, identity plays a mediating role in the influence mechanism of homesteads on migrant workers’ urbanization intention. That is, the homestead has an indirect effect on migrant workers’ willingness to stay and settle down in cites through the sense of identity, aside from its direct effects. The mediation effect accounts for 20.87% of the total effect for willingness to stay and 25.63% of the total effect for willingness to settle down. This paper also represents how these coefficients vary by different regions and migration distances. Therefore, policymakers should provide institutional support for correctly guiding migrant workers to “abandon their land and enter the city” and strengthen their sense of identity to the city.

Suggested Citation

  • Weite Cheng & Shuiyuan Cheng & Haitao Wu & Qian Wu, 2023. "Homesteads, Identity, and Urbanization of Migrant Workers," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:3:p:666-:d:1094916
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Taylor, J Edward & Rozelle, Scott & de Brauw, Alan, 2003. "Migration and Incomes in Source Communities: A New Economics of Migration Perspective from China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 75-101, October.
    2. Valsecchi, Michele, 2014. "Land property rights and international migration: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 276-290.
    3. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2011. "Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(493), pages 345-361.
    4. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    5. Xiao, Wei & Zhao, Guochang, 2018. "Agricultural Land and Rural-Urban Migration in China: A New Pattern," RIEI Working Papers 2018-09, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    6. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Youqing & Gao, Mengtao & Bi, Lanlan & Lee, Chyi Lin & Yin, Guangbo, 2025. "Land rights, resource allocation and urban settlement choices of migrant workers in Yunnan, Western China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    2. Rui Yao & Jianping Ye & Lei Song, 2023. "The Impact of the Rural–Urban Migration of Chinese Farmers on the Use of Rural Homesteads: A Threshold Model Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Yao Luo & Yumei Li & Chen Li & Qun Wu, 2023. "Influence of the Kinship Networks on Farmers’ Willingness to Revitalize Idle Houses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Yichi Zhang & Kai Xue & Huimin Cao & Yingen Hu, 2023. "The Non-Linear Relationship between the Number of Permanent Residents and the Willingness of Rural Residential Land Transfer: The Threshold Effect of per Capita Net Income," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, August.

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