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Quality of migrant schools in China: evidence from a longitudinal study in Shanghai

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Listed:
  • Yuanyuan Chen

    (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

  • Shuaizhang Feng

    (Jinan University)

Abstract

As spaces in public schools are limited, a substantial number of migrant children living in Chinese cities but without local hukou are enrolled in private migrant schools. This paper studies the quality of migrant schools using data collected in Shanghai in 2010 and 2012. Although students in migrant schools perform considerably worse than their counterparts in public schools, the test score difference in mathematics has almost been halved between 2010 and 2012, due to increased financial subsidy from the government. We rule out alternative explanations for the convergence in test scores. We also conduct a falsification test and find no relative changes in the performance of migrant school students based on a follow-up survey of a new cohort of students in 2015 and 2016, a period with no changes in financial subsidies to migrant schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuanyuan Chen & Shuaizhang Feng, 2017. "Quality of migrant schools in China: evidence from a longitudinal study in Shanghai," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 1007-1034, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:30:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-016-0629-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-016-0629-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Yuanyuan & Feng, Shuaizhang & Han, Yujie, 2020. "The effect of primary school type on the high school opportunities of migrant children in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 325-338.
    2. Yue Zhang & Xiaodong Zheng, 2022. "Internal migration and child health: An investigation of health disparities between migrant children and left-behind children in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Feng, Shuaizhang & Kim, Jun Hyung & Yang, Zhe, 2021. "Effects of Childhood Peers on Personality Skills," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1004, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Zhiling Wang & Lu Chen, 2019. "Destination choices of Chinese rural–urban migrant workers: Jobs, amenities, and local spillovers," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 586-609, June.
    5. Li, Lingfang (Ivy) & Wu, Yuting & Zhu, Xun & Chu, Rongwei & Hung, Iris, 2022. "Job Changing Frequency and Experimental Decisions: A Field Study of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Industry," MPRA Paper 115472, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lin, Carl & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2018. "Parental Migration Decisions and Child Health Outcomes: Evidence from China," IZA Discussion Papers 11986, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Chen, Yuanyuan & Feng, Shuaizhang, 2019. "The education of migrant children in China's urban public elementary schools: Evidence from Shanghai," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 390-402.
    8. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2018. "Do migrant students affect local students’ academic achievements in urban China?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 64-77.
    9. Zhang, Haifeng & Zang, Lijun & Mao, Mingzhi & Guo, Jiqiang & Wang, Chunchao, 2023. "The externalities of preschool attendees in middle school classes," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Ding, Xiaozhou, 2021. "College education and internal migration in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rural-to-urban migration; Hukou; Migrant school; School quality; Financial subsidy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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