The Effect of Urban Experience on the Settlement Intention of Rural Migrants: Evidence from China

Urban experience can increase the ability of rural migrants to integrate into cities, thereby enhancing their settlement intentions. This paper empirically supports these findings using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). The mechanism analysis finds that urban experience promotes economic survival skills and adaptive capacity among rural migrants and enhances their willingness to settle in cities. It has significantly increased the labor market income, social activity, and interpersonal interaction of rural migrants. Compared with other cities, the urban experience of rural migrants who move to first-tier cities in their first migration significantly impacts their willingness to settle in cities. Finally, further discussion finds that the impact of urban experience on rural migrants’ settlement intention is nonlinear, with an inverted U-shaped curve. These findings can help local governments in China improve the integration ability and willingness of rural migrants to settle in cities through measures such as optimizing household registration and improving the social security system. They can also provide lessons for urbanization development in other countries.