The RUMiC longitudinal survey: fostering research on labor markets in China

Mehtap Akgüç,Klaus F Zimmermann,Corrado Giulietti

doi:10.1186/2193-9020-3-5

Mehtap Akgüç, Klaus F Zimmermann + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9020-3-5

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Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the Longitudinal Survey on Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC), a unique data source in terms of spatial coverage and panel dimension for research on labor markets in China. The survey is a collaboration project between the Australian National University, Beijing Normal University and the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), which makes data publicly available to the scientific community by producing Scientific Use Files. The paper illustrates the structure, sampling frame and tracking method of the survey, and provides an overview of the topics covered by the dataset, and a review of the existing studies based on RUMiC data. JEL codes C81; J01; P36; R23

Highlights

China has witnessed rapid demographic and socio-economic changes during the last three decades
The household registration system that was used by the government as a policy to control and restrict internal movement of labor–the hukou–was progressively relaxed, albeit not eliminated. These rapid transformations set the background of the largest movement of labor force within a country, referred to as the Great Migration in China throughout this paper
The Great Migration brought along unprecedented levels of urbanization

Summary

Introduction

China has witnessed rapid demographic and socio-economic changes during the last three decades. The household registration system that was used by the government as a policy to control and restrict internal movement of labor–the hukou–was progressively relaxed, albeit not eliminated These rapid transformations set the background of the largest movement of labor force within a country, referred to as the Great Migration in China throughout this paper. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, more than 260 million Chinese left their hometown for at least 6 months, including more than 160 million migrant workers moving from rural to urban areas (NBS, 2013). This large-scale movement of labor is one of the driving forces of economic growth in China. This paper outlines the structure, sampling frame and tracking method of the first two waves of the RUMiC survey, and provides an overview of the topics covered, and a review of the existing studies based on these data

The RUMiC longitudinal survey

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