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Marriage and Migration in Transitional China: A Field Study of Gaozhou, Western Guangdong

Author

Listed:
  • C Cindy Fan

    (Department of Geography, University of California, PO Box 951524, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, USA)

  • Ling Li

    (Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China)

Abstract

Marriage and marriage migration are often downplayed in the migration literature. The role of location in the decisionmaking underlying marriage migration, and the relations between marriage and labor migration, are little understood. Research that focuses on international marriages and on Western or capitalist economies has highlighted marriage as a strategy, but little attention is given to domestic marriage migration and to socialist and transitional economies. In this paper, through a field study of two villages in western Guangdong, China, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from that study, we wish to advance two arguments. First, we argue that changes in the spatial economy have reinforced the importance of location in the matching and trade-off processes that lead to marriage migration. Evidence of spatial hypergamy across long distance supports the notion that marriage is a means for peasant women to move to more favorable locations. Second, we show that increased opportunities for labor migration—a product of economic transition—have enlarged peasants' marriage market and at the same time promoted division of labor within marriage. The findings underscore household and individual strategies in response to macrolevel constraints and opportunities, the centrality of marriage for understanding migration, and the relations between marriage and labor migration.

Suggested Citation

  • C Cindy Fan & Ling Li, 2002. "Marriage and Migration in Transitional China: A Field Study of Gaozhou, Western Guangdong," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(4), pages 619-638, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:34:y:2002:i:4:p:619-638
    DOI: 10.1068/a34116
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C Cindy Fan, 2001. "Migration and Labor-Market Returns in Urban China: Results from a Recent Survey in Guangzhou," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(3), pages 479-508, March.
    2. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Stark, Oded, 1989. "Consumption Smoothing, Migration, and Marriage: Evidence from Rural India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 905-926, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zheng Mu & Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, 2018. "For Money or for a Life: A Mixed-Method Study on Migration and Time Use in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 347-379, August.
    2. Lynette Å ikić-Mićanović & Ivana RadaÄ ić & Marica Marinović Golubić, 2018. "Transnational Roma marriage migration: Challenges and opportunities," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(2), pages 172-186, March.
    3. Guanli Zhang, 2020. "Perceiving and Deflecting Everyday Poverty-Related Shame: Evidence from 35 Female Marriage Migrants in Rural China," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 123-131.
    4. Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Bai, Junfei & Waibel, Hermann, 2021. "Married to rubber? Evidence from the expansion of natural rubber in Southwest China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. Mingming Bao & Nur Hafeeza Ahmad Pazil & Sivamurugan Pandian, 2025. "Transnational Marriage Research in China: A Systematic Review of History, Current Status, and Media Construction," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 2319-2356, December.
    6. Minali Grover & Ajay Sharma, 2026. "Migration and Educational Assortative Mating in India: How Geographic Mobility Shapes Marriage Markets," Papers 2603.01014, arXiv.org.
    7. Guanli Zhang, 2020. "Perceiving and Deflecting Everyday Poverty-Related Shame: Evidence from 35 Female Marriage Migrants in Rural China," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 123-131.

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