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China’s Mobility Barriers and Employment Allocations

Author

Listed:
  • L Rachel Ngai
  • Christopher A Pissarides
  • Jin Wang

Abstract

China’s hukou system imposes two main barriers to population movements. Agricultural workers get land to cultivate but are unable to trade it in a frictionless market. Social transfers (education, health, etc.) are conditional on holding a local hukou. We show that the land policy leads to over-employment in agriculture and it is the more important barrier to industrialization. Effective land tenure guarantees and a competitive rental market would correct this inefficiency. The local restrictions on social transfers also act as disincentives to migration with bigger impact on urban migrations than to job moves to rural enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • L Rachel Ngai & Christopher A Pissarides & Jin Wang, 2019. "China’s Mobility Barriers and Employment Allocations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(5), pages 1617-1653.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:17:y:2019:i:5:p:1617-1653.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvy035
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    Cited by:

    1. Qingen Gai & Naijia Guo & Bingjing Li & Qinghua Shi & Xiaodong Zhu, 2025. "Rural Pensions, Labor Reallocation, and Aggregate Income: An Empirical and Quantitative Analysis of China," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 93(5), pages 1663-1696, September.
    2. Cheng, Yifan & Yu, Jianyu & Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing, 2024. "The effects of land titling on intergenerational transfers in rural China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 228-251.
    3. Waxman, Andrew & Liang, Yuanning & Li, Shanjun & Barwick, Panle Jia & Zhao, Meng, 2020. "Tightening belts to buy a home: Consumption responses to rising housing prices in urban China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Tasso Adamopoulos & Loren Brandt & Jessica Leight & Diego Restuccia, 2022. "Misallocation, Selection, and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis With Panel Data From China," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(3), pages 1261-1282, May.
    5. Ayerst, Stephen & Brandt, Loren & Restuccia, Diego, 2020. "Market constraints, misallocation, and productivity in Vietnam agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. Cui, Lijuan & Xu, Yekun, 2025. "Technological change and entrepreneurial activities: Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 330-346.
    7. Mark Colas & Suqin Ge, 2019. "Transformations in China’s Internal Labor Migration and Hukou System," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 296-331, September.
    8. Panle Jia Barwick & Yanyan Liu & Eleonora Patacchini & Qi Wu, 2023. "Information, Mobile Communication, and Referral Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(5), pages 1170-1207, May.
    9. Ye, Maoxin & Lyu, Zeyu, 2020. "Trust, risk perception, and COVID-19 infections: Evidence from multilevel analyses of combined original dataset in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    10. Chen, ShiYi & Liang, EnDong & Liu, ChaoLiang, 2025. "“Size-dependent” environmental regulations and spatial labor allocation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Shawn Xiaoguang Chen & Yudan Cheng & Liutang Gong & Wenjia Tian, 2023. "A Big Push of Panda from the Ground: Land Subsidy and Structural Transformation in China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 23-09, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    12. Chuantao Cui & Leona Shao‐Zhi Li & Daoju Peng, 2021. "Value‐added exports and the skill premium: Evidence from China’s international and regional production networks," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 183-211, May.
    13. Bairoliya, Neha & Miller, Ray, 2021. "Social insurance, demographics, and rural-urban migration in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Holger Sieg & Chamna Yoon & Jipeng Zhang, 2023. "The Impact Of Local Fiscal And Migration Policies On Human Capital Accumulation And Inequality In China," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(1), pages 57-93, February.
    15. Cui, Kun & Li, Bo & Wang, Hanyang, 2021. "Quantitative analysis of health insurance reform in China: Pure consolidation or universal health insurance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    16. Monteforte, Fabio, 2020. "Structural change, the push-pull hypothesis and the Spanish labour market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 148-169.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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