Citizenization of rural migrants in China's new urbanization: The roles of hukou system reform and rural land marketization

Abstract

Citizenization of rural migrants (CRM) is an important urbanization goal in developing countries. The main factors affecting urbanization are migration policies and rural land tenurial arrangements. However, little evidence has been provided on the effects of relaxing migration restrictions and extending rural land rights bundles on CRM. The relaxation of hukou restrictions and rural land marketization under China's new urbanization plan provide materials for examining the causal effects. The results of this research confirm that the extension of rural land rights bundles to farmers is more important for CRM than the relaxation of migration restrictions in developing countries. They further confirm that the negative effects of rural landholdings on CRM can be neutralised by rural land marketization. Moreover, improving the welfare of citizens in medium and small cities and the competitiveness of rural migrants can strengthen the positive effects of the hukou system reform. The findings suggest that usufruct-based rural land marketization and the recognition of the dual identity of rural migrants are effective measures for advancing urbanization in developing countries. • This paper provides evidences for the effects of migration restrictions relaxation and rural land marketization on CRM. • The positive effects of rural land marketization can neutralize the negative effects of rural landholdings on CRM. • Rural land rights reform is more important for migration than relaxing migration restrictions. • Rural land marketization based on usufruct can help to promote CRM.