Abstract
This report summarizes the characteristics of migration in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) after its reforms and opening up. Rapid urbanization in the PRC has resulted from recent decades of intense rural-urban migration. The scale of migration increased rapidly and long-term migration is the main characteristic. The population characteristics of migration are determined not only by a personal decision, but also a joint decision within households to send members with comparative advantages in manufacturing and services, usually male and young, to work in cities. Coastal regions where manufacturing and services are better developed, especially big cities, are the major destinations. The aspiration for higher-income and better job opportunities is the major force that drives migration, while public services and urban amenities also partly account for population flows. However, in the PRC, there are still major institutional barriers — especially the hukou system and related segmentation in the urban labor market, social security, and public services access — that hinder rural-urban and inter-regional migration. Facing the challenges of fast urbanization and growing urban diseases, local governments still rely on the current system to control the population flow into large cities. Controlling population growth by discriminative policies will lead to more social problems. Policy makers should reconsider the way to achieve efficient and harmonious urbanization by shifting to more pro-market policies and reducing the migration costs embedded in institutional constraints.
Highlights
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been experiencing rapid urbanization for the past few decades
Its urban population accounted for only 20.91% of its total population in 1982, but this increased to 52.6% in 2012.1 According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2013), 236 million people live in a place where they do not have a local hukou,2 and the majority of these people are rural–urban migrants
Correcting unequal income distribution that emerges during economic development through rural labor migration is undoubtedly an effective rational choice that meets the requirements of marketization
Summary
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been experiencing rapid urbanization for the past few decades. Its urban population accounted for only 20.91% of its total population in 1982, but this increased to 52.6% in 2012.1 According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2013), 236 million people live in a place where they do not have a local hukou, and the majority of these people are rural–urban migrants. Labor migration in the PRC, like anywhere else in the world, is the result of rational decision making by individuals or households after weighing costs and benefits. Comprehending this decision making is the key to understanding the phenomenon of migration. This working paper begins with an examination of the institutions related to rural–urban migration. The findings of studies on segmentation and integration in urban societies are noted
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