China Labor-force Dynamics Survey Research Articles

The Impact of Long-Term Security on the Return of Rural Labor Force: Evidence from Rural China

Since the rural revival, the return of the rural labor force has become a trend. Different ways of returning to the rural labor force contain different policy implications. Based on the data of 8209 households in the China Labor Force Dynamic Survey, the probit model was used to explore the impact of long-term security in urban and rural areas on different return ways of the rural labor force. The results show that: (1) 18% of farmers choose to return, of which 3% and 10% choose active return and passive return, respectively, and 10% and 6% choose long-term return and short-term return, respectively. (2) The improvement in urban long-term security will inhibit the return of farmers (including active return and passive return), and the improvement in rural long-term security will promote farmers’ return behavior (including active return, passive return, long-term return, and short-term return). (3) The improvement of rural long-term security will promote the return of the first and second generations of rural households (including active return, passive return, long-term return, and short-term return), and the improvement of urban long-term security will restrain the return of the first generation of rural households (including active returns).

Reducing Farmland Abandonment by Raising Women’s Education Levels: Evidence from China

With the rapid industrialization and the growing demand for male labor in urban industries, agricultural production in many developing countries presents obvious feminization features. Accordingly, improving the education level of rural women is the key to increasing farmland return and reducing farmland abandonment. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study examines the effect of rural women’s education on farmland abandonment. The results reveal that for each increase in the education level of a hostess in a rural household, the abandoned farmland of that household decreases by 40 m2. The increase in women’s education level can promote the use of the Internet, help households access credit, and better control the costs of agricultural production, thus curbing farmland abandonment. In addition, women’s education can play a stronger role in reducing farmland abandonment for rural areas where the land rental market is well developed, as well as for families whose male hosts go out to join non-farm work.

Can socialised agricultural services balance equity and efficiency? Analysis from the perspective of government-market relationships

ABSTRACT Socialized agricultural services (SASs) are becoming increasingly popular in developing countries to address future farming challenges. In China, there is an ongoing debate in the academic community regarding the equity and efficiency issues arising from whether SASs have a ‘smallholder crowding out’ effect. By using data from the 2018 China Labour Force Dynamics Survey, we first investigate the equity problem of SASs using a Logit model and then analyse the efficiency problem of SASs using the propensity score matching model. Specifically, we examine whether smallholder farmers have equal access to SASs when different entities provide services and whether SASs can effectively increase farmer cultivation returns. We find that smallholder farmers have equal access to SASs and that SASs can significantly improve farmer returns on grain production, meaning SASs can balance efficiency and equity. Furthermore, SASs can enhance the efficiency of land resource allocation by accelerating land transfer, leading to increased returns. These findings indicate that China should accelerate the construction of SAS system, improve relevant rules for the SAS market, and support smallholder farmers in adopting SASs.

Mixed motives behind migrants' remittance‐sending practices: Evidence from China

AbstractAn abundant collection of literature investigates why migrants remit. Migrants' remittance‐sending practices can be driven by either altruism or the insurance motive. In this study, I first develop a stylized theoretical framework that generates testable predictions regarding the two frequently discussed motives. Then, using a panel data set pooled from three waves of the China Laborforce Dynamic Survey (2012–2016), I find empirical evidence for migrants' remittance‐sending practices under mixed motives that incorporate both altruism and insurance. Findings presented in this study are of great significance in understanding family ties and the risk sharing mechanism between rural‐to‐urban migrants and households of origin.

The long-term effect of childhood left-behind experiences on entrepreneurial activities in adulthood: Empirical evidence from China

Although the issue of left-behind children has received academic attention, little is known about the potential long-term effect. This study was conducted in China, aiming to explore the impact of left-behind experiences in childhood on entrepreneurial activities in adulthood. The study design was quantitative and we used secondary data with samples from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey. To mitigate potential endogeneity problems, we adopted the conditional mixed process approach with instrumental variable. The empirical results show that left-behind experiences decreased the likelihood of adulthood entrepreneurship, which is supported by some robustness tests. This negative impact can be partially explained by disadvantages in human capital and social networks as well as risk aversion. Moreover, we found that the exogenous shocks from hukou transfer and WTO accession weaken the negative impact of left-behind experiences and lack of entrepreneurship can further explain the income penalization effect of left-behind experiences. Our study provides new evidence for the life course theory and reveals the long-term adverse effects of left-behind experiences in childhood. Also, we shed light on safeguarding the welfare of left-behind children and young people with left-behind experiences.

The Impact of Environmental Factors on Mental Health and Well-being in Urban Areas of China

Background: Over the years, a lot of work has been done within the context of Chinese industry, promoting industrialized urban areas. As a result, the environment of the associated industrialized urban regions has been polluted mainly due to the promotion of emissions. This might also impact the associated individuals' overall mental health and wellbeing. As a result, the current study has focused on the impact of environmental factors on mental health and wellbeing of the individuals within the context of industrialized urban areas in China. Methods: For this purpose, the "China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) dataset" of 2020 was considered. A regression model was used to determine the impact of work environment, subjective perception and built environment on the mental health of the associated citizens. In this regard, the industrial employees were also taken into account. Results: The results obtained from this research show significant association within the context of mental health and industrial employees, however, significant association was observed within the context of residents (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion the environmental factors essentially play an essential role in influencing the mental wellbeing of the individuals, emphasizing the integration of greener environment to attain significant outcomes.

Volunteer participation and depression: Interplay of familial trust and autonomy

Depression, a critical public health concern, has a complex relationship with volunteerism, one often seen as beneficial for mental health but varying across cultural contexts. This study probed this dynamic within China, factoring in the moderating effects of familial trust and individual autonomy. Engaging a broad sample of 16,348 individuals aged between 15 and 64 years from the 2018 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, I deployed a cross-sectional design with stratified probability sampling. Advanced statistical analyses using Stata software revealed that volunteerism was linked to heightened depressive symptoms, but this effect was significantly moderated by familial trust, especially among those individuals with greater autonomy. These insights challenge the assumption that volunteerism is universally advantageous for mental health, underscoring the nuanced role of cultural context and advocating for culturally informed mental health interventions.

Multilevel medical insurance mitigate health cost inequality due to air pollution: Evidence from China

BackgroundAir pollution affects residents’ health to varying extents according to differences in socioeconomic status. However, there has been a lack of research on whether air pollution contributes to unfair health costs.MethodsIn this research, data from the China Labour Force Dynamics Survey are matched with data on PM2.5 average concentration and precipitation, and the influence of air pollution on the health expenditures of residents is analysed with econometric methods involving a two-part model, instrument variables and moderating effects.ResultsThe findings reveal that air pollution significantly impacts Chinese residents’ health costs and leads to low-income people face health inequality. Specifcally, the empirical evidence shows that air pollution has no significant influence on the probability of residents’ health costs (β = 0.021, p = 0.770) but that it increases the amount of residents’ total outpatient costs (β = 0.379, p < 0.006), reimbursed outpatient cost (β = 0.453, p < 0.044) and out-of-pocket outpatient cost (β = 0.362, p < 0.048). The heterogeneity analysis of income indicates that low-income people face inequality due to health cost inflation caused by air pollution, their total and out-of-pocket outpatient cost significantly increase with PM2.5 (β = 0.417, p = 0.013; β = 0.491, p = 0.020). Further analysis reveals that social basic medical insurance does not have a remarkable positive moderating effect on the influence of air pollution on individual health inflation (β = 0.021, p = 0.292), but supplementary medical insurance for employees could reduce the effect of air pollution on low-income residents’ reimbursed and out-of-pocket outpatient cost (β=-1.331, p = 0.096; β=-2.211, p = 0.014).ConclusionThe study concludes that air pollution increases the amount of Chinese residents’ outpatient cost and has no significant effect on the incidence of outpatient cost. However, air pollution has more significant impact on the low-income residents than the high-income residents, which indicates that air pollution leads to the inequity of medical cost. Additionally, the supplementary medical insurance reduces the inequity of medical cost caused by air pollution for the low-income employees.

Overtime work and Chinese workers' physical and mental health: The mediating role of social support and work value awareness.

China was once called the world's factory. Chinese workers had long weekly working hours. However, the empirical results of the relationship between overtime work and workers' health are mixed and remain inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate how overtime work influenced workers' physical and mental health and the role of lifestyles, social support, and work value awareness. Data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2016 (N = 14,205) was used. The instrumental variable approach was employed to overcome the endogeneity problem between overtime work and workers' health. The bootstrapping method was conducted to elicit the role of lifestyles, social support, and work value awareness. The results indicated that overtime work significantly and negatively influenced Chinese workers' physical and mental health. The results of the bootstrapping suggested that workers' social support and work value awareness partially mediated the relationship between overtime work and their physical and mental health. However, the mediating role of lifestyles was insignificant. Through using big data with national representativeness, this study suggests that overtime work negatively influences Chinese workers' physical and mental health. Our findings provide policy implications for improving workers' health rights and well-being in emerging economies.

Can provincial-pooling of urban and rural resident basic medical insurance improve the health performance of migrant population?

Enhancing the pooling level of medical insurance is an inevitable requirement to strengthen the mutual assistance capability of funds and achieving national health. In China, with the continuous expansion of the migrant population seeking medical treatment in other regions, the role of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance is becoming increasingly prominent. While there is limited research on the impact and mechanism of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance on the health of migrant population. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance on the health performance of migrant population and analyze the mediating role of social integration. Using data of three waves (2014, 2016 and 2018) of the China Labor force Dynamics Survey, this study focuses on a sample of migrant population enrolled in Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance and employs the estimation methods of time-varying difference-in-difference and mediating effect model. The results of time-varying difference-in-difference show that provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance improves the health performance of migrant population by 9.6% (p < 0.05), and the event study method and placebo test all indicate that the research results are robust. The mediating effect analysis demonstrates that the provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance enhances health performance by fostering the subjective and objective social integration, and neighbourhood assistance, social equity, life happiness and trust in the majority are specific intermediary channels. The results of heterogeneity analysis indicates that provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance is more effective in improving the health performance of high-income (β = −0.090; P < 0.05), new-generation (β = −0.116; P < 0.1) and highly-educated (β = 0.130; p < 0.05) migrant population. Our results call for accelerating the promotion of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance to improve health performance of migrant population.

Who is ‘stuck’ in the past? The impact of the 1998 great flood on the adoption of agricultural technology in China

ABSTRACT This study estimates the impact of the 1998 Great Flood on the adoption of agricultural technology in China and its mechanism using a cross-sectional dataset collected from the ERA5-Land, the China Labor Force Dynamic Survey, the China Rural Statistical Yearbook, and the China Population Census. The analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped correlation between farmers’ exposure to the flood event and their propensity to embrace technological advancements in agriculture. Farmers who experienced medium flood exposure tend to be risk lovers and exhibit a 4.9% higher likelihood of adopting agricultural technology compared to their counterparts who did not experience the flood. On the contrary, farmers who faced extreme flood exposure tend to be risk averse and exhibit an 11.9% diminished likelihood of adopting agricultural technology compared to those who remained unscathed by the flood.

Being a householder speaking a foreign language: Foreign language proficiency and the internet technology adoption of the household

This study employs microdata from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to investigate the influence of foreign language proficiency on the adoption of Internet technology within households. The results indicate that householders who are proficient in foreign languages are more likely to adopt Internet technology at home than those who lack such knowledge. The greater the foreign language proficiency of the householder, the greater the likelihood of Internet technology adoption. Further analyses indicate that the positive effect of foreign language proficiency on the Internet technology adoption of the household in China is more pronounced in male-headed households, in urban areas, and in eastern and central regions. This study also identifies three potential mechanisms by which foreign language proficiency influences household Internet technology adoption: the information effect, the trust effect, and the income effect. These findings contribute to the understanding of the role of language proficiency in technology adoption at the household level, offer new insights into the positive outcomes of foreign language education in China, and encourage measures to reduce digital inequality among households through language learning.

Does digital infrastructure promote individual entrepreneurship? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment on the “Broadband China” strategy

Digital infrastructure construction provides new channels and a nurturing environment for individual entrepreneurship and is considered a significant factor in stimulating individual entrepreneurship. This study explored the impact of digital infrastructure construction on individual entrepreneurship and its mechanisms. The primary data used in this study were obtained from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS). The relevant data were analyzed using a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results indicate that the construction of digital infrastructure can significantly promote individual entrepreneurship by enhancing imitation effects, improving optimistic expectations, and creating flexible work arrangements. Moreover, its promoting effect is more pronounced among individuals with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), females, and low-income families. The study's results reveal the connection between digital infrastructure construction and entrepreneurship, providing policy recommendations and insights to help government departments achieve goals such as digitalization and common prosperity. This study also contributes to the Chinese experience in the global analysis of entrepreneurship.

Impacts of alcohol consumption on farmers’ mental health: Insights from rural China

The global mental health crisis presents a significant challenge to sustainable development, and this crisis is more pronounced in China's rural areas versus urban areas. Alcohol consumption has increased in rural areas with China's economic growth, but the number of studies on the relationship between farmers' alcohol consumption and their mental health is limited. Based on data from the China Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study uses the endogenous switching regression model (ESR) to analyze the influence of alcohol consumption on farmers' mental health. On this basis, the study further conducts a counterfactual analysis to estimate the average treatment effect of alcohol consumption on farmers' mental health. The results show that: (1) There is a significant positive relationship between alcohol consumption and farmers' mental health. Specifically, the mental health index of drinking farmers increases by 19.7 % compared to non-drinking farmers. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that alcohol consumption is more beneficial for improving the mental health of male farmers, elderly farmers, and employed farmers. Furthermore, drinking alcohol almost every day, consuming Baijiu, and each drinking consumption ranging from 0 to 100 mL per occasion are more conducive to improving farmers' mental health. These findings have implications for relieving depressive symptomology and improving farmers' mental health in developing countries. The results of this study also provide guidance for addressing the global mental health crisis.

Family and job microsystems as mediators between social integration and depression among rural-to-urban migrant workers in China: does having sons make a difference?

Rural-to-urban migrant workers are a vulnerable group at risk of developing depression. Based on the social-ecological systems theory, this study investigates the impact of the lack of social integration on depression, considering the mediating roles of migrant workers' microsystems (family happiness and job burnout). Additionally, the study explores whether having sons influences these associations. The sample of 4,618 rural-to-urban migrant workers was obtained from the 2018 wave of the China Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS). All the measures in the survey exhibited good reliability, including the Center for Epidemiological Research Depression Scale (CES-D), family happiness, job burnout, and social integration. The data were primarily analyzed using a structural equation model. Social integration had a direct impact on depression among migrant workers. Additionally, it indirectly affected depression through the mediating roles of family happiness not job burnout. The moderating effect of having sons mainly occurred on the path from social integration to family happiness. The cross-sectional design impeded the ability to draw causal inferences. This finding highlights the potential benefits of social integration and family happiness in promoting early prevention of depression among migrant workers. It indicates that the inclination toward having sons among migrant workers continues to impact their mental health.

Technological progress and labour welfare: evidence from robot adoption in China

ABSTRACT The widespread integration of robots has raised apprehensions about their influence on labourlabour welfare. Utilizing data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) spanning 2014 to 2018 and robot data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), we explore the influence of robots on workers’ health and the associated mechanisms. Contrary to prevalent societal concerns, our study reveals that the utilization of robots substantially enhances worker health. Mechanistic tests demonstrate the effectiveness of robots in enhancing worker health through task reallocation and improvements to the work environment. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the advantages of robot utilization may particularly benefit vulnerable groups, including those with physically demanding jobs, low-skilled workers, and migrant populations. This fosters the gradual development of a “human-machine symbiosis” in the interaction between machines and humans. Subsequent research has demonstrated that the implementation of robots is effective in diminishing work intensity and alleviating negative anxiety among workers, thereby enhancing their mental health. By drawing evidence from developing countries to illuminate the positive aspects of the forces of creative destruction, our study offers a micro-perspective for objectively evaluating intelligent applications and worker welfare. It also provides instructive insights for a comprehensive assessment of the robot-human relationship.

Money for operator: the impact of linked agricultural subsidy on incomes

The reform of China’s “three subsidies” has shifted the method of subsidization from payment based on the contracted area to payment based on the actual operational area. Within this context, studying the income-generating impact of the “three subsidies” holds significant practical relevance. Using data from the 2018 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, this paper employs basic estimation, mediating effect, and moderating effect models to analyze the heterogeneity of agricultural subsidies’ impact on rural household income, the mediating effect of agricultural mechanization, and the moderating effect of operation scale. Our findings indicate that agricultural subsidies, known as the “three subsidies”, have increased total rural household income and agricultural income while decreasing wage income. However, they have shown no significant impact on business income. Notably, agricultural subsidies have significantly elevated the income of food-producing households, with agricultural mechanization partially mediating this effect. Operation scale positively moderates the impact of agricultural subsidies on rural household income and agricultural mechanization. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that agricultural subsidies have a more significant impact on rural household income among agricultural producers in the eastern region.

Gospel or curse: the impact of religious beliefs on energy poverty in rural China

Energy poverty, especially in rural areas, has become a central focus of scholarly and policy discussions. However, there is a significant gap in understanding the impact of religious beliefs on this phenomenon. This paper aims to fill this gap by utilizing household survey data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) spanning three waves (2012, 2014, and 2016) to examine the causal link between religious beliefs and energy poverty, covering clean energy accessibility and affordability among rural residents. Our analysis unveils a substantial positive influence of religious beliefs on the likelihood of experiencing energy poverty, especially concerning accessibility and affordability. This effect is notably pronounced among males, ethnic minorities, and low-income groups. Low income and education are recognized as pivotal mediating factors through which religious beliefs contribute to energy poverty. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for formulating strategies to mitigate energy poverty in rural China, with a particular emphasis on the role of religious beliefs.

Entrepreneurial failure influences the health of Chinese farmers: Evidence from the data of China labor-force dynamic survey

High failure rate is a primary characteristic of current farmer entrepreneurial activities in China. We examined the impact of entrepreneurial failure on the health of Chinese farmers based on the data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS). We found that entrepreneurial failure significantly depresses the health of Chinese farmers. Specifically, the farmers with entrepreneurial failure experience are more likely to have low self-reported levels of psychological and physical health, and the probability of experiencing severe injury and illness is elevated by 4.6 %. Mechanism analysis shows that entrepreneurial failure depresses the health of Chinese farmers through weakening informal social support and increasing the probability of overwork. Furthermore, these effects are more significant in the older generation of farmers who were born before 1980 and the farmers striving to make a living.

The impact of rural living environment improvement programs on the subjective well-being of rural residents in China

Increasing people’s subjective well-being (SWB) remains a critical challenge for all countries. However, few studies have been dedicated to examining the influence of environmental governance programs on SWB, especially in developing and non-democratic societies. This paper aims to fill this void by taking the Rural Living Environment Improvement (RLEI) program in China—the largest rural living environment governance program in history, as an example to understand the role of environmental governance programs in SWB in the world’s biggest developing and non-democratic country. Based on 3747 individual samples from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey database, we found that RLEI can significantly improve rural residents’ SWB. This effect remains significant after using the propensity score matching method and the instrumental variable approach to address potential selection bias and endogenous problems. The indirect analysis shows that RLEI can increase rural residents’ SWB mainly through improving their income, consumption expenditure, and health. Compared with rural sewage and livestock manure RLEI programs, rural waste RLEI program has a greater enhanced impact on rural residents’ SWB. The monetary value of RLEI based on the life satisfaction approach shows that the resulting improvement in rural residents’ SWB created by RLEI is almost equivalent to the effect of household income. While the monetary value of rural sewage, livestock manure, and rural waste RLEI program is equivalent to 1.2, 3.67, and 1.1 times the effect of household income. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that RLEI has a greater positive impact on SWB for junior and old-aged, low-educated, Midwestern and Northeastern, and working rural residents.