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Educational Inequality under China's Rural–Urban Divide: The Hukou System and Return to Education

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  • Qiang Fu

    (Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA)

  • Qiang Ren

    (Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China)

Abstract

We use microsample data from the 2005 (1%) National Population Sample Survey in southeast China and examine the relationship between the effect of hukou status on income and return to education under China's rural–urban divide. For labor-market return we find that: (1) the influence of hukou status is deeply rooted in an indivdual's other key features (occupation, years of schooling, and working location) in the labor market, and (2) hukou status affects labor-market return primarily through its influence on people's return to education. Assisted by spline regression models, we find that the gap of return to education among people with different hukou status increases as years of schooling decrease, and reaches its peak in primary education. The data overwhelmingly suggest that individuals' human capital was largely determined by the place (rural versus urban) where they were born and received their compulsory education, which highlights the role of China's rural–urban divide in shaping people's labor-market return.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiang Fu & Qiang Ren, 2010. "Educational Inequality under China's Rural–Urban Divide: The Hukou System and Return to Education," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(3), pages 592-610, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:3:p:592-610
    DOI: 10.1068/a42101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Song, Yang, 2014. "What should economists know about the current Chinese hukou system?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 200-212.
    2. Dreger, Christian & Zhang, Yanqun, 2017. "The Hukou Impact on the Chinese Wage Structure," IZA Discussion Papers 10720, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Mo, Di & Huang, Weiming & Shi, Yaojiang & Zhang, Linxiu & Boswell, Matthew & Rozelle, Scott, 2015. "Computer technology in education: Evidence from a pooled study of computer assisted learning programs among rural students in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 131-145.
    5. Lijia Guo & Jiashun Huang & You Zhang, 2019. "Education Development in China: Education Return, Quality, and Equity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, July.

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