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Remittances and relative concerns in rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Alpaslan Akay

    (GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor)

  • Olivier Bargain

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Corrado Giulietti
  • Juan D. Robalino
  • Klaus F. Zimmermann

    (IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

Abstract

The paper investigates the impact of remittances on the relative concerns of households in rural China. Using the Rural to Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) dataset we estimate a series of subjective well-being functions to simultaneously explore relative concerns with respect to income and remittances. Our results show that although rural households experience substantial welfare loss due to income comparisons, they gain well-being by comparing their remittances with those received by their reference group. In other words, we find evidence of a "status effect" with respect to income and of a "signal effect" of similar magnitude with respect to remittances. This finding is robust to various specifications, alternative reference group definitions, controls for the endogeneity of remittances and selective migration, as well as the use of migrants' net contribution to household income.

Suggested Citation

  • Alpaslan Akay & Olivier Bargain & Corrado Giulietti & Juan D. Robalino & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2016. "Remittances and relative concerns in rural China," Post-Print hal-01447860, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01447860
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2015.12.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Artjoms Ivlevs & Milena Nikolova & Carol Graham, 2019. "Emigration, remittances, and the subjective well-being of those staying behind," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 113-151, January.
    2. He Zhu & Tsunehiro OTSUKI, 2018. "Can Two Consecutive Generations’ Data Predict Longterm Intergenerational Transition? Evidence from China with three generations," OSIPP Discussion Paper 18E004, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    3. Massimiliano Tani, 2017. "Hukou Changes and Subjective Well-Being in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 47-61, May.
    4. Shu Cai & Albert Park & Winnie Yip, 2022. "Migration and experienced utility of left-behind parents: evidence from rural China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1225-1259, July.
    5. Sihong Xiong & Ya Wu & Shihai Wu & Fang Chen & Jianzhong Yan, 2020. "Determinants of migration decision-making for rural households: a case study in Chongqing, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(2), pages 1623-1639, November.
    6. Tani, Massimiliano, 2015. "Hukou Changes and Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 9451, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Zhu, Ruini & Yuan, Ye & Wang, Yaojing, 2024. "Love, health, and robots: Automation, migration, and family responses in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Xuerui Shi & Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling & Pau Chung Leng, 2025. "Demographic Change and Commons Governance: Examining the Impacts of Rural Out-Migration on Public Open Spaces in China Through a Social–Ecological Systems Framework," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-29, July.
    9. Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2017. "Migration for Development: From Challenges to Opportunities," GLO Discussion Paper Series 70, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Bose-Duker,Theophiline & Gaddis,Isis & Kilic,Talip & Lechene,Valérie & Pendakur,Krishna, 2021. "Diamonds in the Rough? : Repurposing Multi-Topic Surveys to Estimate Individual-Level Consumption Poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9661, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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