Rural Labor Flows in China (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Rural Labor Flows in China Young-Jin Choi (bio) Loraine A. West and Yaohui Zhao, editors. Rural Labor Flows in China. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 2000. 322 pp. Paperback $20.00, ISBN 1-55729-067-9. The Chinese media have presented a negative image of rural migrants as aimlessly or blindly moving to cities (mengliu). At the same time, restrictions have tightened as migration has increased. Nonetheless, in the mid-1990s, local governments started to loosen their control over migration as they realized that it would not work. This edited book aims to help readers better understand who rural Chinese migrants are, how they migrate, and how migration effects their home places and destinations. It is based mainly on rural household survey data from Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, and Sichuan. In this collection, various authors examine the characteristics of migrants at the individual, household, and community levels. Xiaodong Ma finds that migrants with high levels of education and job experience are able to get more desirable and higher-paying jobs. Hein Mallee argues that people who come from household situations in which the land-per-worker allocation is smaller than the village mean are more likely to migrate and have a well-informed network based on family and village ties. With good transportation facilities and closeness to urban centers, members of a household usually choose nonfarming (Township and Village Enterprises) or diversified production opportunities. Shukai Zhao shows that migration is more likely when rural nonfarm employment is not available. Informal organizations or networks facilitate peasant migration as well as urban employment. Zhao finds that networks in the place of origin (village), in particular kinship networks, later lead to networks established in urban areas. These are extremely important for migrants seeking employment. Networking [End Page 578] leads to segmentation of the labor force within a village, according to Ma. While locals (insiders) are assigned higher-skilled and better-paying jobs, nonlocals (outsiders) are given lower-skilled jobs. The labor market appears inevitably dual-track, without integration, whether it is urban or rural. The government's attempts to establish formal institutions that provide information is not very effective since rural migrants are unfamiliar with them. Migration can both positively and negatively affect rural areas. Nansheng Bai finds that low-cash-income families that migrate can purchase more capital input such as fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in increased grain output after migration. Denise Hare and Shukai Zhao show that labor migration has positive effects on rural household income; a household's migration experiences affect its subsequent decisions concerning labor allocation. Migration opportunities offer higher long-term returns on migrants' skills than can be obtained locally, particularly in towns adjacent to cities. However, migration from the poorest towns has a negative effect on participation in cash-crop activities. According to Delia Davin, the media have noted the negative effects of migration on migrants' destinations. Crime and overcrowding have increased in urban areas. The media report the dangers and abuse faced by migrants. Zhao pinpoints the lack of benefits available to migrants and their families (e.g., no subsidized housing or education) in contrast to what is offered to local residents. Shen Tan argues that migrants are perceived as vulnerable and are exploited by businessmen and local authorities such as the police and regulatory agencies. Ma contends that women migrants are even more vulnerable. They also tend to resort to legal channels to resist exploitation rather than become involved in organized strikes. This book provokes one to raise certain questions about migration. First, how has migration affected urban areas? For instance, we need to examine the effect of female migration on the domestic and other service sectors in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangzhou so that we might better understand the changing patterns of social stratification in China. Second, the distances covered during inter-provincial migration and the duration of stay at each destination should be clarified. The patterns and characteristics of migration could vary from region to region in as large a country as China. Short-distance inter-provincial or intra-provincial migration is more likely to lead to greater contributions to...