IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v41y2022i2d10.1007_s11113-021-09662-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Relaxing the Hukou Constraints on Return Migration Intentions: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Li Hao

    (Fudan University)

Abstract

How does the change of migration policy or institutional context in receiving places influence return migration? This paper examined the impact of relaxing Hukou constraints in 2014 Hukou reform on return intentions by using longitudinal data of the China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey 2012, 2014, and 2016. The results show that the relaxation of the Hukou restrictions will reduce the return intentions of migrants living in cities with an urban population below 5 million. This effect is stronger among migrants who are low skilled and less educated, migrants without social welfare in urban cities, and migrants with lower social status, rural Hukou, and lower level of social integration in the receiving places. An important implication of this paper is that government should pay attention to the improvement of the institutional environment in receiving places and provide better public services and social welfare for migrants, especially for disadvantaged migrants, who are the necessary human capital for urbanization and driving forces to regional development.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Hao, 2022. "Impact of Relaxing the Hukou Constraints on Return Migration Intentions: Evidence from China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 583-607, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:41:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11113-021-09662-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-021-09662-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-021-09662-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-021-09662-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    2. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    3. Everett Lee, 1966. "A theory of migration," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 3(1), pages 47-57, March.
    4. Ariu, Andrea & Docquier, Frédéric & Squicciarini, Mara P., 2016. "Governance quality and net migration flows," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 238-248.
    5. Eliana La Ferrara & Alberto Chong & Suzanne Duryea, 2012. "Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 1-31, October.
    6. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    7. Dustmann, Christian & Fadlon, Itzhak & Weiss, Yoram, 2011. "Return migration, human capital accumulation and the brain drain," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 58-67, May.
    8. Nejad, Maryam Naghsh & Young, Andrew T., 2016. "Want freedom, will travel: Emigrant self-selection according to institutional quality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 71-84.
    9. Wenfei Winnie Wang & C Cindy Fan, 2006. "Success or Failure: Selectivity and Reasons of Return Migration in Sichuan and Anhui, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(5), pages 939-958, May.
    10. Wang, Chunchao & Zhang, Chenglei & Ni, Jinlan & Zhang, Haifeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2019. "Family migration in China: Do migrant children affect parental settlement intention?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 416-428.
    11. Matz Dahlberg & Matias Eklöf & Peter Fredriksson & Jordi Jofre-Monseny, 2012. "Estimating Preferences for Local Public Services Using Migration Data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(2), pages 319-336, February.
    12. Oded Stark, 1991. "The Migration of Labor," Blackwell Books, Wiley Blackwell, number 1557860300, June.
    13. Marie†Laurence Flahaux, 2017. "The Role of Migration Policy Changes in Europe for Return Migration to Senegal," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 868-892, December.
    14. Amparo González-Ferrer & Pau Baizán & Cris Beauchemin & Elisabeth Kraus & Bruno Schoumaker & Richard Black, 2014. "Distance, Transnational Arrangements, and Return Decisions of Senegalese, Ghanaian, and Congolese Migrants," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 939-971, December.
    15. Huanxue Zhou & Christopher Taber & Steve Arcona & Yunfeng Li, 2016. "Difference-in-Differences Method in Comparative Effectiveness Research: Utility with Unbalanced Groups," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 419-429, August.
    16. Liu, Zhiqiang, 2005. "Institution and inequality: the hukou system in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 133-157, March.
    17. David Karemera & Victor Iwuagwu Oguledo & Bobby Davis, 2000. "A gravity model analysis of international migration to North America," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(13), pages 1745-1755.
    18. Lei Kuang & Li Liu, 2012. "Discrimination against Rural-to-Urban Migrants: The Role of the Hukou System in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-8, November.
    19. Kam Wing Chan, 2010. "The Household Registration System and Migrant Labor in China: Notes on a Debate," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 357-364, June.
    20. Govert Bijwaard & Stijn Doeselaar, 2014. "The impact of changes in the marital status on return migration of family migrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 961-997, October.
    21. Zhao, Yaohui, 2002. "Causes and Consequences of Return Migration: Recent Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 376-394, June.
    22. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2016. "Does flattening government improve economic performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-37.
    23. Hein de Haas & Tineke Fokkema, 2011. "The effects of integration and transnational ties on international return migration intentions," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(24), pages 755-782.
    24. Zhang, Jipeng & Huang, Jin & Wang, Junhui & Guo, Liang, 2020. "Return migration and Hukou registration constraints in Chinese cities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Junfeng Wang & Shaoyao Zhang & Wei Deng & Qianli Zhou, 2024. "Metropolitan Expansion and Migrant Population: Correlation Patterns and Influencing Factors in Chengdu, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lei Niu & Lulu Yuan & Zhongmin Ding & Yifu Zhao, 2023. "How Do Support Pressure and Urban Housing Purchase Affect the Homecoming Decisions of Rural Migrant Workers? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-28, July.
    2. Zhang, Lin & He, Xiaoxia & Jia, Zhenli, 2023. "Industrial agglomeration, public services and city size: Evidence from 286 cities in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Anqi Yu & Guankun Liu & Yuning Gao, 2022. "Intergenerational Occupational Mobility, Labor Migration and Sustained Demographic Dividends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Xia Sun & Juan Chen & Shenghua Xie, 2022. "Becoming Urban Citizens: A Three-Phase Perspective on the Social Integration of Rural–Urban Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Laila Touhami Morghem & Khawlah Ali Abdalla Spetan, 2020. "Determinants of International Migration: An Applied Study on Selected Arab Countries (1995-2017)," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 6-19.
    6. Xiaoyan Mu & Anthony Gar-On Yeh & Xiaohu Zhang & Jiejing Wang & Jian Lin, 2022. "Moving down the urban hierarchy: Turning point of China’s internal migration caused by age structure and hukou system," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(7), pages 1389-1405, May.
    7. Amelie F. Constant, 2020. "Time-Space Dynamics of Return and Circular Migration: Theories and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 8053, CESifo.
    8. Simon Winter, 2020. "“It’s the Economy, Stupid!”: On the Relative Impact of Political and Economic Determinants on Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(2), pages 207-252, April.
    9. Thierry Baudassé & Rémi Bazillier & Ismaël Issifou, 2018. "Migration And Institutions: Exit And Voice (From Abroad)?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 727-766, July.
    10. Qingjun Zhao & Meijing Song & Hanrui Wang, 2022. "Voting with Your Feet: The Impact of Urban Public Health Service Accessibility on the Permanent Migration Intentions of Rural Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Lishuo Shi & Wen Chen & Jiaqi Xu & Li Ling, 2020. "Trends and Characteristics of Inter-Provincial Migrants in Mainland China and Its Relation with Economic Factors: A Panel Data Analysis from 2011 to 2016," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Akasaka, Shintaro, 2016. "Macro determinants of Migration: Review and Analysis," MPRA Paper 106509, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    13. Sanhita Sucharita, 2020. "Socio-economic Determinants of Temporary Labour Migration in Western Jharkhand, India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 11(2), pages 226-251, August.
    14. Zane Varpina & Kata Fredheim, 2022. "The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on migrants’ decision to return home to Latvia," SSE Riga/BICEPS Occasional Papers 16, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
    15. Bo, Shiyu & Wu, Yiping & Zhong, Lingna, 2020. "Flattening of government hierarchies and misuse of public funds: Evidence from audit programs in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 141-151.
    16. Nan Sun & Fan Yang, 2024. "Effects and Mechanisms of Rural‒Urban Migration on Health in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-23, April.
    17. Zakiyyah, Varachia, 2018. "Review and Analysis of Macro Determinants of Migration," MPRA Paper 106445, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    18. Elena Vitalievna, Lebedeva, 2007. "Determinants of International Migration and Remittances," MPRA Paper 104789, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2007.
    19. Les Christidis, Les Christidis, 2005. "Theorizing and Conceptualizing of Migration," MPRA Paper 105238, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2005.
    20. Ma, Shuang & Li, Xueluan & Li, Ding & Guo, Huanxiu, 2023. "Does air pollution induce international migration? New evidence from Chinese residents," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:41:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11113-021-09662-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.