Could Skills Training Projects for Rural-urban Migrants Promote Industrial Transfer?

Abstract

Combining with Lewis model in development economics and Krugman model in new economic geography, this paper constructs a spatial economic model of rural-urban migrant transfer among regions, and employs panel and difference-in-difference estimation methods to empirically test industry transfer effect of skills training for rural migrants by using the panel data at two levels, namely 31 provinces in China from 2005 to 2013 and 109 counties in Henan province from 2010 to 2012. Firstly, current training subsidy policy focusing on rural migrants does not have industry transfer effect, but has the urbanization effect. Secondly, training subsidy policy focusing on locally transferred rural migrants also does not have industry transfer effect, but has the stronger urbanization effect; only skills training subsidy policy for rural migrants focusing on enterprises in undeveloped regions has industry transfer effect when regional integration level breaks through the threshold value. This paper has important implications to central and western regions, that is to say to choose subsidies for locally transferred labor force is more effective if the purpose is to promote urbanization, and subsidies for skills training for rural migrants focusing on enterprises in undeveloped regions & the emphasis on the increase in regional integration level are needed if the purpose is to attract industry transfer. At the same time, to realize the industry transfer effect of skills training for rural migrants, it needs to change existing ways of training subsidies, from training subsidies provided by governments to subsidies provided by enterprises.