China Labor-force Dynamics Survey Research Articles

The Relationship Between Happiness and Consumption Expenditure: Evidence from Rural China

We use data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) to examine the relationship between happiness and consumption expenditure of rural farmers in China. A two-stage residual inclusion approach is applied to tackle the potential endogeneity issue of happiness. The empirical results show that a higher level of happiness is associated with an increase in consumption expenditure in general. Further analysis reveals that higher levels of happiness are positively and significantly associated with higher expenditures on basic living goods, education and gifts. We also find that both household income and access to the Internet boost happiness and increase consumption expenditure. Happiness plays a larger role in improving the consumption expenditure of rural households compared with their urban counterparts. Our findings may suggest that improving rural income via income diversification strategies and investing in rural information and communication technology infrastructures would encourage rural farmers’ happiness, promote the upgrading of rural consumption and boost sustainable economic growth.

Home ownership and life satisfaction of migrants in urban China

ABSTRACT This article investigates the impact of homeownership on life satisfaction for urban migrants in China. By utilizing three waves of the China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey data from 2012 to 2016, we find that homeownership has a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction of urban migrants. This effect remains robust with different model specifications. In addition, this effect is mainly concentrated in those aged above 38, or at the top quartile of income distribution among migrants, or residing in the east coastal region. We also show that the positive effect of homeownership remains when the possibility of its endogeneity is tackled by instrumental variable estimation.

A National Cross-Sectional Survey on Work Environment Associated With Psychological Well-Being and Job Satisfaction Among Chinese Employees.

Work environments can affect job satisfaction and psychological well-being. Using the job demand-control model as a foundation, this study aimed to explore the relationships between physical and psychosocial work environments and psychological well-being and job satisfaction in the workplace. A multistage sampling method was used with the 2012 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey among 4442 employees. Our outcome measures included psychological well-being and job satisfaction. The final model showed migrants (odds ratio [OR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13-1.60) and nonmanagerial employees (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.25-1.78) who worked in general enterprises (OR= 1.61, 95% CI = 1.34-1.92) or suffered longer weekly work hours (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.24-1.63) had worse psychological well-being or lower job satisfaction. Following the job demand-control model, higher job demands and lower job autonomy were significantly and positively associated with worse psychological well-being and lower job satisfaction. This study highlights that improved work environments can protect employees' well-being. Policymakers must provide better work environments. They must consider its physical environment (stable work contract and short work hours) and psychosocial environment (low job demands and high job autonomy) aspects, particularly for migrants and nonmanagerial employees.

Effect of Air Pollution on Female Labor Supply: An Empirical Analysis Based on Data of Labor Force Dynamic Survey of China

ABSTRACT The current study investigates the relationship between air pollution and female labor supply using China Labor Force Dynamic Survey Data (CLDS). The two-stage least squares method (2SLS) was used to approach the study objective. Moreover, the maximum wind speed was used as an instrumental variable for air pollution to solve the endogenous problem. The results found that air pollution directly impacted on female labor supply and working hours. The regression results confirmed a negative and significant impact of air pollution on female labor participation. Furthermore, the labor supply behavior of middle-aged and elderly women was significant and positively related to air pollution, while the labor supply behavior of young women had a negative relationship with air pollution. The study results stress the Chinese government to implement rigorous air pollution regulations to improve air quality. Furthermore, it is necessary to improve the female labor supply to maintain economic activities.

China’s Youth in NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training): Evidence from a National Survey

This study aims to understand the prevalence and characteristics of individuals aged 16 to 35 who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) and the risk factors associated with being in NEET in China. The analysis uses the 2012 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey to show that the NEET rate was 8 percent during the study period. Multilevel logistic regression indicates that women were more likely to be in NEET. Married women and female migrants had significantly higher risks of being in NEET, with migration having opposite effects for men and women. Education had protective effects against being in NEET, especially for women. Age had a nonlinear effect, with individuals aged 22 to 25 at the highest risk of being in NEET. I discuss implications for public policy and directions for future studies on NEET in China.

Intraday weather conditions can influence self-report of depressive symptoms

The weather is arguably one of the most common topics in daily conversation. However, it is also a well-known factor in psychiatric problems worldwide such as depression, where particularly elders and females are prone to the condition. Previous studies have mostly focused on the association between long-term climate/season change and depressive symptoms to test the belief that people feel depressed when the weather is bad. Yet, little is known about the relationship between intraday weather conditions and depressive symptoms. This study aimed to decompose this association and explore age and gender differences in depressive symptoms’ report under different intraday weather conditions. We analyzed data with a total sample size of 20,987 individuals aged 15–96 years obtained via the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) project in 2016. The surveyors filled in the intraday weather conditions (i.e., sunny, cloudy, overcast, light rain, moderate rain, and heavy rain) in the questionnaire with depression being self-reported using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. In the survey, 17.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 16.8%, 17.8%] individuals were assessed to have depressive symptoms (CES-D scores >15). Overcast day was the peak weather condition for depressive symptoms, while gender and age differences of depressive symptoms were biggest in the weather condition of moderate rain. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that female and middle-old age individuals were more likely to report having depressive symptoms, and people under overcast day were more likely to report having depressive symptoms compared to under sunny day [odds ratio (OR) = 1.25, 95%CI = 1.11, 1.39]. This intraday weather conditions-depression link was significant in males and middle-old age individuals but not in females and youngsters.

Is lifestyle a bridge between urbanization and overweight in China?

Rapid urbanization has led to many health-related problems in China, and the increasing prevalence of overweight is one of the greatest threats to public health. Although previous literature has documented a linkage between urbanization and the prevalence of overweight in developing countries such as China, little research has been done to investigate the role of lifestyle related to energy intake and expenditure in mediating the effect of urbanization on individuals' risk of overweight. To bridge this knowledge gap, this study aims to examine the impacts of urbanization on individuals' odds of overweight and explore the mediating effect of lifestyle choices using data from 2016 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey. Results show that the effect of urbanization on being overweight has two sides. Specifically, while urbanization results in a sedentary lifestyle, which increases the risk of being overweight, urbanization rate weakens the effect of eating out frequently on being overweight and strengthens the influence of physical exercise on being overweight. Urbanization exerts complex effects on residents' risk of being overweight among Chinese people by shaping their lifestyle.

ICT adoption and income diversification among rural households in China

ABSTRACT Although the determinants of income diversification have been widely examined in the literature, little is known about whether and how information and communication technology (ICT) adoption affects household income diversification. To fill in this gap, this paper examines the impact of ICT adoption on income diversification among rural households in China, utilizing open-access data collected through the China Labour-force Dynamics Survey project. We employ a two-stage treatment effects model to address the potential selection bias issue associated with ICT adoption. The empirical results show that ICT adoption exerts a positive and statistically significant impact on income diversification. Further analyses reveal that ICT adoption is more beneficial to low-income rural households and those residing in eastern and central parts of China when it plays a role in diversifying rural income. Our findings suggest that improving rural education and infrastructure such as roads and broadband facilities can help enhance ICT adoption among rural households, which subsequently increases income diversification.

Peer Effects and Fertility Preferences in China: Evidence from the China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey

Despite empirical evidence that individuals form their fertility preferences by observing social norms and interactions in their environments, the exact impact of these peer effects remains unclear. We thus use data from the 2014 and 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to investigate the association between community-level peer effects and fertility preferences among Chinese women aged 18-49. Whereas our baseline results indicate that 11.96% of these women would prefer 1 or no children, 74.1% would like 2 children, and 13.93% would prefer 3 or more children. A one unit increase in community-level peer fertility reduces the preference of wanting only one child by 14.3%, whereas it increases the probability of preferring three children by 9.3% and four or more children by 4.8%. Hence, overall, we find a relatively strong peer effect on individual fertility preferences in communities characterized by generally low fertility rates, which provides support for the role of social norms in the fertility choices of reproductive-aged Chinese women.

Re-Examining Supplier-Induced Demand in Health Care: Comparisons Among Patients Affiliated and Not Affiliated with Healthcare Professionals in China

Doing in healthcare can be a major threat to the delivery of high-quality health care. This study used coarsened exact matching to test the hypothesis of supplier-induced demand (SID) by comparing health care utilization and expenditures between patients affiliated with healthcare professionals and their counterpart patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. Using the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in 2014, we identified 806 patients affiliated with healthcare professionals and 22,788 patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. The matched outpatient proportion of patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals was 0.6% higher (p=.754) than that of their counterparts, and the matched inpatient proportion was 1.1% lower (p =.167). Patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals paid significantly more (680 CNY or 111 USD, p<.001) than their counterparts did per outpatient visit, while patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals paid insignificantly less (2,061 CNY or 336 USD, p=.751) than their counterparts did per inpatient visit. Our results lend support to the SID and highlight the need for policies to address the large outpatient care expenses for patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. Our study also suggests that as the public becomes more informed, the demand of health care may persist while heath care expenditure per outpatient visit may decline sharply due to the weakened SID. To address misbehaviors and contain costs in health care provision, it is important to realign provider incentives.

Livelihood capitals on income inequality among rural households: evidence from China

ABSTRACT: We used the data of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2014 to examine the effects of livelihood capitals which include natural, material, human, financial, and social capitals on total household income, per capita income, agricultural income, wage income, operational income, and property income inequality among rural households in China. Results showed that different kinds of livelihood capitals have different effects on different types of rural households’ income. Specifically; (1) although, the area of cultivated land reduces agricultural income inequality, it increases per capita income inequality. (2) Forest land area enlarges per capita income inequality and total household income inequality. (3) Tractor variable reduces inequality in agricultural income and total household income. (4) While reducing the property income inequality, education variable enlarges the wage income inequality, the per capita income inequality and the total household income inequality. (5) Book variable reduces property income inequality. (6) Loan variable increases inequality in agricultural incomes. (7) Party variable reduces the agricultural income inequality. (8) Although, the internet variable increases agricultural income inequality, and property income inequality, it reduces wage income inequality, operational income inequality, per capita income, and total household income inequality.

The Cost of Environmental Pollution：Impact of Drinking Water Pollution on the Medical Expenditure of Residents and Medical Insurance Funds

To control medical expenditure is important to residents, medical insurance funds, and public finance. Based on China Labor Force Dynamics Survey in 2014 and 2016 in China, with the methods of the two-part model and the counterfactual framework, the research examines the impact of drinking water pollution on the medical expenditure of residents, and the spending burden of medical insurance funds. The results indicate that: Firstly, drinking water pollution increases the outpatient and inpatient expenditure from residents, which also increases the outpatient and inpatient reimbursement expenditure. Secondly, drinking water pollution contributes almost 10% of the outpatient expenditure and 7.5% of the inpatient expenditure. Thirdly, residents with lower socioeconomic status suffer a heavier burden of medical expenditure due to drinking water pollution; the per capita outpatient expenditure and hospitalization expenditure of poor residents due to drinking water pollution are equivalent to 1.46 times and 1.34 times of non-poor residents, respectively. Fourthly, in 2016, the medical expenditure contributable to drinking water pollution in China is about 340 billion yuan, which is equivalent to 7.4% of the total health expenditure this year, and the reimbursement expenditure from medical insurance funds contributable to drinking water pollution is about 150 billion yuan, accounting for about 12% of the expenditure of medical insurance funds.

Migration status and healthcare seeking behaviours among the Chinese labor-force: a nationally representative study

ObjectivesWe aimed to analyse the healthcare seeking behaviours (HSB) of populations with different migration status and examine the relationship between migration status and HSB.DesignA secondary analysis of cross-sectional data of...

Transportation Equity in China: Does Commuting Time Matter?

Urban commuting, a facet of transportation equity, is an important factor that shapes social equity. Little is known about how commuting practices shape individuals’ perceptions of social equity. To fill this gap, we conducted a multilevel regression using data from the China Labour-force Dynamics Survey 2016. We found that commuters who used private cars had the highest level of perceived social equity, while those who used bicycles had the lowest. Commuting time had a significant negative effect on respondents’ perceived social equity. This study verifies the “commuting paradox” to some extent, as income had no moderating effect on the relationship between commuting time and perceived social equity, which suggests that the social inequity caused by long commutes is not alleviated by higher wages. We also found that the perceived social equity of respondents who commuted on foot or by motorcycle was significantly negatively affected by commuting time. Based on our findings, we propose four ways to alleviate social inequity caused by commuting inequities: consider the commuting time sensitivity of different types of commuters, pay attention to the social equity issues caused by different transportation modes, provide more equitable commuting ways for low-income people, and prioritise public transportation.

Beauty premium in China's labor market: Is discrimination the main reason?

Based on data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this paper analyzes the effects of the height as well as other appearance characteristics of workers on their wages. Regression results show that after controlling for social network, human capital, and other endowment characteristics, the effects of the appearance characteristics become smaller and statistically insignificant. The decomposition results of the wage-appearance differentials show that higher wages for good-looking workers are mainly attributable to differences in individual characteristics. Among them, the lower wages for shorter males and higher wages for thinner females are mainly attributable to the unexplained parts of discrimination. Males suffer more from “shortness penalty”, whereas females may earn from “pretty face”. Further results showed that height may influence blue-collar workers’ wages through the effect on physical strength. Empirical evidence also demonstrates that there are strong correlations between appearance and working ability (social network and human capital). Thus, our results confirmed the little beauty premium in the Chinese labor market and the relatively wages differentials are not mainly due to discrimination from consumers or employers, instead attributable mainly to differences of individual endowment characteristics.

Spatial mobility and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: the evidence from China labor-force dynamics survey

Literature on regional entrepreneurship has tended to neglect inter-regional flows of human capital, and yet spatial mobility provide the nascent entrepreneurs with multi-location knowledge and networks to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. The paper fills the gap by adopting an agent-environment interactionist perspective in the investigation on the interrelation between mobility and entrepreneurship. To be more specific, it deals with two underlying themes. First, the way through which the multi-location experiences and non-local knowledge equip the migrants with the pursuit of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Second, the distinctive relationship between the regional environment and opportunity-driven entrepreneurial motives for individuals with and without spatial mobility experiences. These themes are investigated with the China labor-force dynamics survey data, comparing the characteristics and drivers of entrepreneurial motives of the migrants and locals. The survey data presents clear evidence of a higher prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in migrant entrepreneurs compared to their local counterparts. Furthermore, the ordered logit regression results demonstrate that spatial mobility experiences significantly promote the likelihood of entering into opportunity-based business. The regional environment exerts impacts on migrants and non-migrants’ entrepreneurial motives, yet in different ways. Local entrepreneurs are more influenced by the endogenous nature of firm ecology in the city, whereas migrant entrepreneurs start business pulled by both local demands and extra-local connectedness to greater market areas. Finally, the paper reflects upon possible implications for a more targeted and inclusive entrepreneurial policy, as well as the future areas of research.

Return Intention, Subjective Social Status and Residential Choices of Rural Migrant Worker Households: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Rural migrant workers constitute special groups in China whose hukou (household registration) is still in rural areas, but they engage in non-agricultural industry in towns or cities. Based on panel data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in 2012 and 2014, we estimate the effects of return intention and the subjective social status on the residential choices of rural migrant worker households by using a Heckman two-stage model. The results show that return intention has a negative effect on the tenure choices of rural migrant worker households in China but a positive effect on their neighbourhood choices. Furthermore, their residential choices are affected not only by their objective social status (education, occupation, income, etc.) but also by their subjective social status. The subjective social status has a positive effect on the tenure choices of rural migrant worker households in China but a negative effect on their neighbourhood choices.

Exploring the linkage between greenness exposure and depression among Chinese people: Mediating roles of physical activity, stress and social cohesion and moderating role of urbanicity.

Although a plethora of studies have investigated the association between green exposure and mental health in developed countries, it is only recently that academics and policymakers have paid attention to how this association works in rapidly urbanizing and developing countries. This study aims to explore biopsychosocial pathways linking residential greenness exposure to depression in the Chinese context using data from the 2016 wave of China Labour-force Dynamics Survey. Results from multilevel models along with mediation analysis show that exposure to residential greenness is negatively associated with depression, and that physical activity, stress and neighbourhood social cohesion altogether have a complete mediation effect on this association. Results from moderation analysis suggest that urbanicity moderates the relationship between greenness exposure and depression, and that the relationship is strongest at the upper level of urbanicity. Our findings suggest the necessity of increasing the provision of recreational green spaces and improving the quality of green spaces in Chinese less urbanized areas.

Understanding the Gap Between De Facto and De Jure Urbanization in China: A Perspective from Rural Migrants’ Settlement Intention

This paper tries to analyze the determinants and driving mechanisms of both settlement intention and hukou transfer intention for rural migrants in Chinese cities, which can help to understand the gap between de facto and de jure urbanization in China. Based on China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in 2014, 1145 samples with their settlement intention, hukou transfer intention, individual demographic characteristics, urban working and living conditions, rural resources and attachment, and geographic characteristics were collected. It suggested that compared with settlement intention, the rural migrants’ hukou transfer intention were much weaker. The rural migrants preferred small and medium cities for urban settlement but large and megacities for urban hukou conversion. By logistic regression analysis, a set of complex determinants of settlement intention was identified, including age, education attainment, marital status and spouse living together, as well as the trade-off between urban working and living conditions in the current host cities and rural landholdings and attachment in the hometown. In contrast, the hukou transfer intention was mainly determined by age, personal income, rural landholdings and the size of current host city, which highlighted the personal citizenization capacity and the trade-off between benefits related to urban and rural hukou. Moreover, by examining the characteristics of four sub-types of rural migrants with different settlement intention and hukou transfer intention, it was found that the rural migrants who intended to settle down and convert hukou at the same time usually had high personal citizenization capacity and preferred megacities; those who intended to settle down but rejected hukou conversion usually had high citizenization capacity and low migration cost; those who intended to convert hukou but rejected settling down in the cites preferred megacities instead of small cities; those who did not intend to settle down or convert hukou at all usually had low citizenization capacity and high migration cost. Based on these findings, it is recommended to promote the complete citizenization of rural migrants by improving their livelihood and well-being in the cities through kinds of policy reform about hukou, land, and social insurance.

Gender Differences in the Provision of Job-Search Help

The existing literature has well studied the use of social contacts in job search, including gender inequality, in using social contacts. What is missing is the perspective of social contacts who help others find jobs. Using a large data set from the 2012 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, this study reveals significant gender differences in the provision of job-search help. Compared with women, men are more likely to provide job-search help and especially show a greater likelihood of exerting direct influence on the hiring process. While women are gender neutral in their choice of help recipients, men display a selective preference for helping other men. This men’s advantage of providing job-search help, especially influence-based help, and men’s selective preference for helping other men, imply another prominent gender inequality in informal hiring in the labor market. This study suggests several theoretical propositions to explain the revealed gender differences in both “whether to help” and “whom to help,” providing a starting point for further research.