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Social-family network and self-employment: evidence from temporary rural–urban migrants in China

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  • Junfu Zhang
  • Zhong Zhao

Abstract

We hypothesize that individuals with a larger social-family network are more likely to choose self-employment. We test this hypothesis using data on temporary rural–urban migrants in China. The size of a migrant’s social-family network is measured by the number of relatives and friends this migrant greeted during the past Spring Festival. After controlling for endogeneity using an instrumental variable approach, our results show that a rural–urban migrant with a larger social-family network is more likely to be self-employed. This finding is robust to alternative model specifications and various restrictions on the estimation sample. Copyright Zhang and Zhao; licensee Springer. 2015

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  • Junfu Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2015. "Social-family network and self-employment: evidence from temporary rural–urban migrants in China," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaldv:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:1-21:10.1186/s40175-015-0026-6
    DOI: 10.1186/s40175-015-0026-6
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social-family network; Self-employment; Rural–urban migrants; China; J23; J61; D85;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation

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