Challenges in the energy transition: How does household registration identity affect public participation in environmental affairs in China?

Abstract

One of the challenges in the transition to a low-carbon economy is how to improve the energy and environmental performance of migrants. China has experienced rapid urbanization and a surge in domestic migration in recent years. People migrate within China are an indispensable integral part of sustainable development. Do migrants engage in environmental affairs to the same extent as the locals? Extant literatures have paid insufficient attention to this topic. This paper contributes to the understanding of differences in environmental participation among urban residents who hold varying types of household registration (namely, hukou) identity. Drawing on large-scale survey datasets and the technique of matching, the study finds that: (1) the environmental engagement of migrants is less active than those owning hukou, (2) migrants’ duration of residence, household income, and the level of barriers to obtaining local hukou moderate the above relationship, and (3) the lack of social trust and sense of belonging that comes with the absence of hukou identity are channels constraining migrants’ environmental involvement. This article contends that further reform of the hukou system might be necessary to incentivize migrants to take a more proactive role in environmental matters.