Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea15/205535.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is There a City Size Bias? Destination Choice of Rural off-Farm Workers, Evidences from Three Areas in Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Chaoran
  • Chen, Kevin Z.
  • Reardon, Thomas

Abstract

Nonfarm activities (NFA) are a crucial component of the livelihood strategies of China’s rural households. Empirical evidence shows that 51% of rural households’ income in Asia is from nonfarm earnings (Haggblade, Hazell and Reardon 2007). However, the increasingly uneven spatial distribution of these nonfarm economies has raised the concerns in many countries. It is found that rural towns or intermediate cities play the more important roles in rural poverty reduction than big cities (Berdegué et al. 2015), yet, we still see more migrants concentrating in urban big cities in China. To explore this paradoxical situation will provide some evidences for other developing countries experiencing rapid yet unbalanced urbanization. In this paper, we used a unique data set to find out what are the factors driving rural migrant’s destination choice and whether they are always attracted by large cities. Apart from this main research question, several other contributions are made to the literature. First, this paper performs pioneer research by conducting the estimation of the determinants of Chinese rural off-farm worker’s locational choice, including and comparing both local and migratory NFA, both of which are important among rural households in China, yet the former is generally ignored in the literature. Second, the Nested-Logit Model is used to relax the irrelevant alternatives assumption, proved to be inappropriate if directly adopted traditional Logit or Multinomial Logit model in our case. The results suggested the importance of transportation as well as education to attract rural migrants. We did not see rural migrants preferring larger cities while facing with decreasing travel distances. For rural nonfarm economy, it is also important to improve agricultural performance in rural areas to generate multiplier effects as well as providing education/trainings to rural off-farm workers to be involved in higher-skilled NFA.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Chaoran & Chen, Kevin Z. & Reardon, Thomas, 2015. "Is There a City Size Bias? Destination Choice of Rural off-Farm Workers, Evidences from Three Areas in Rural China," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205535, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea15:205535
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.205535
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/205535/files/AAEA_City%20Size%20Bias%20_%20Destination%20Choice%20of%20Rural%20off-Farm%20Workers_%20Evidences%20from%20Three%20Areas%20in%20Rural%20China_Hu_Chen_Reardon.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.205535?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Docquier, Frederic & Rapoport, Hillel, 2004. "Skilled migration: the perspective of developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3382, The World Bank.
    2. J. Edward Taylor & Alejandro Lopez-Feldman, 2010. "Does Migration Make Rural Households More Productive? Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 68-90.
    3. Sorensen, Todd A. & Fishback, Price & Allen, Samuel K. & Kantor, Shawn, 2007. "Migration Creation, Diversion, and Retention: New Deal Grants and Migration: 1935-1940," IZA Discussion Papers 3060, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Au, Chun-Chung & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2006. "How migration restrictions limit agglomeration and productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 350-388, August.
    5. Chun-Chung Au & J. Vernon Henderson, 2006. "Are Chinese Cities Too Small?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(3), pages 549-576.
    6. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Market Access and Individual Wages: Evidence from China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 145-159, February.
    7. Dustmann, Christian & Okatenko, Anna, 2014. "Out-migration, wealth constraints, and the quality of local amenities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 52-63.
    8. Hernán D. Rozenfeld & Diego Rybski & Xavier Gabaix & Hernán A. Makse, 2011. "The Area and Population of Cities: New Insights from a Different Perspective on Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2205-2225, August.
    9. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    10. Matthew E. Kahn, 2010. "New Evidence on Trends in the Cost of Urban Agglomeration," NBER Chapters, in: Agglomeration Economics, pages 339-354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Catherine L. Kling & Cynthia J. Thomson, 1996. "The Implications of Model Specification for Welfare Estimation in Nested Logit Models," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(1), pages 103-114.
    12. Catherine L. Kling & Joseph A. Herriges, 1995. "An Empirical Investigation of the Consistency of Nested Logit Models with Utility Maximization," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(4), pages 875-884.
    13. Christiaensen, Luc & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2014. "Poverty Reduction During the Rural–Urban Transformation – The Role of the Missing Middle," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 43-58.
    14. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2005. "The potential of land rental markets in the process of economic development: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 241-270, October.
    15. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 2007. "China's (uneven) progress against poverty," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 1-42, January.
    16. Luc Christiaensen & Lei Pan & Sangui Wang, 2010. "Drivers of Poverty Reduction in Lagging Regions: Evidence from Rural Western China," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-035, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. de Brauw, Alan & Rozelle, Scott, 2008. "Migration and household investment in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 320-335, June.
    18. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter B. R. & Reardon, Thomas Anthony (ed.), 2007. "Transforming the rural nonfarm economy: Opportunities and threats in the developing world," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-8664-5.
    19. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    20. Hu, Chaoran & Reardon, Thomas A. & Jin, Songqing & Chen, Kevin Z., 2014. "How the rural-urban linkages determine the nonfarm activities and incomes of rural household, evidences from five provinces in China," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170214, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Wido Geis & Silke Uebelmesser & Martin Werding, 2013. "How do Migrants Choose Their Destination Country? An Analysis of Institutional Determinants," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 825-840, November.
    22. Pedersen, Peder J. & Pytlikova, Mariola & Smith, Nina, 2008. "Selection and network effects--Migration flows into OECD countries 1990-2000," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1160-1186, October.
    23. Berdegué, Julio A. & Carriazo, Fernando & Jara, Benjamín & Modrego, Félix & Soloaga, Isidro, 2015. "Cities, Territories, and Inclusive Growth: Unraveling Urban–Rural Linkages in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 56-71.
    24. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2008. "Why do people migrate? A review of the theoretical literature," MPRA Paper 28197, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marwan Benali & Bernhard Brümmer & Victor Afari‐Sefa, 2018. "Smallholder participation in vegetable exports and age‐disaggregated labor allocation in Northern Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(5), pages 549-562, September.
    2. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Xia, Fang & Huang, Jikun, 2014. "Moving Off the Farm: Land Institutions to Facilitate Structural Transformation and Agricultural Productivity Growth in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 505-520.
    3. Mahé, Clothilde & Naudé, Wim, 2016. "Migration, occupation and education: Evidence from Ghana," MERIT Working Papers 2016-018, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Eric Rougier & Nicolas Yol, 2018. "The volatility effect of diaspora’s location: A migration portfolio approach," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2018-09, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    5. Bosker, Maarten & Brakman, Steven & Garretsen, Harry & Schramm, Marc, 2012. "Relaxing Hukou: Increased labor mobility and China’s economic geography," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 252-266.
    6. Andrea Bernini & Laurent Bossavie & Daniel Garrote-Sánchez & Mattia Makovec, 2024. "Corruption as a push and pull factor of migration flows: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 263-281, February.
    7. Chuan Liao & Christopher Barrett & Karim-Aly Kassam, 2015. "Does Diversification Improve Livelihoods? Pastoral Households in Xinjiang, China," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(6), pages 1302-1330, November.
    8. Roberts, Mark & Deichmann, Uwe & Fingleton, Bernard & Shi, Tuo, 2012. "Evaluating China's road to prosperity: A new economic geography approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 580-594.
    9. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    10. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2014. "Are Rural Youth in Ethiopia Abandoning Agriculture?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 259-272.
    11. Chen, Binkai & Liu, Dan & Lu, Ming, 2018. "City size, migration and urban inequality in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 42-58.
    12. Jehovaness Aikaeli & Martin Julius Chegere & John Rand, 2023. "Complementarity and substitutability between farm and nonfarm activities: Evidence from agricultural households in Tanzania," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 89-111, February.
    13. Zhang, Yongchao & Torre, André & Ehrlich, Marianne, 2023. "The impact of Chinese government promoted homestead transfer on labor migration and household's well-being: A study in three rural areas," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Marian Rizov & Xufei Zhang, 2014. "Regional disparities and productivity in China: Evidence from manufacturing micro data," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 321-339, June.
    15. Michel Beine & Joël Machado & Ilse Ruyssen, 2020. "Do potential migrants internalize migrant rights in OECD host societies?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1429-1456, November.
    16. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    17. Deng, Zhongqi & Qin, Ming & Song, Shunfeng, 2020. "Re-study on Chinese city size and policy formation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Zhu, Nong & Luo, Xubei, 2008. "The impact of remittances on rural poverty and inequality in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4637, The World Bank.
    19. You, Jing, 2014. "Risk, under-investment in agricultural assets and dynamic asset poverty in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 27-45.
    20. Fred Mawunyo Dzanku, 2018. "Rational But Poor? An Explanation for Rural Economic Livelihood Strategy," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 365-381, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; International Development; Labor and Human Capital;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaea15:205535. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.