IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v21y2003i4p500-511.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Migrant Networks in Labor Migration: The Case of China

Author

Listed:
  • Yaohui Zhao

Abstract

Using recent household survey data from rural China, this article investigates determinants of labor migration, paying special attention to the role of migrant networks. Migrant networks are measured by the number of early migrants from the village, comprised of experienced migrants who continue their migratory activities and return migrants. Observations of early migrants are excluded from regression analyses to enable identification. Results show that experienced migrants have a positive and significant effect on subsequent migration, but return migrants do not. This implies that migrant networks are important, and their effects materialize through practical assistance in the process of migration. (JEL J61, O15, Z13)

Suggested Citation

  • Yaohui Zhao, 2003. "The Role of Migrant Networks in Labor Migration: The Case of China," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 21(4), pages 500-511, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:21:y:2003:i:4:p:500-511
    DOI: 10.1093/cep/byg028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/cep/byg028
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1093/cep/byg028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Banerjee, Biswajit, 1984. "Information flow, expectations and job search : Rural-to-urban migration process in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-3), pages 239-257.
    2. Zhang, Xiaobo & Li, Guo, 2003. "Does guanxi matter to nonfarm employment?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 315-331, June.
    3. Meng,Xin, 2009. "Labour Market Reform in China," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521121118, September.
    4. Denise Hare, 1999. "'Push' versus 'pull' factors in migration outflows and returns: Determinants of migration status and spell duration among China's rural population," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 45-72.
    5. Schwartz, Aba, 1973. "Interpreting the Effect of Distance on Migration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(5), pages 1153-1169, Sept.-Oct.
    6. J. Edward Taylor, 1987. "Undocumented Mexico—U.S. Migration and the Returns to Households in Rural Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 69(3), pages 626-638.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. SHI, Xiaoping & Heerink, Nico & Qu, Futian, 2007. "Choices between different off-farm employment sub-categories: An empirical analysis for Jiangxi Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 438-455.
    2. Yang Cheng & Yuxia Lv & Mark Rosenberg & Linke Hou, 2018. "Decision Making of Non-Agricultural Work by Rural Residents in Weifang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Lall, Somik V. & Selod, Harris & Shalizi, Zmarak, 2006. "Rural-urban migration in developing countries : a survey of theoretical predictions and empirical findings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3915, The World Bank.
    4. Yuling Cui & Daehoon Nahm & Massimiliano Tani, 2017. "Employment Choice And Ownership Structure In Transitional China," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(02), pages 325-344, June.
    5. Lu, Jie, 2015. "Varieties of Governance in China: Migration and Institutional Change in Chinese Villages," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199378746.
    6. Xin Meng & Chris Manning & Li Shi & Tadjuddin Nur Effendi (ed.), 2010. "The Great Migration," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13619.
    7. Biliang Hu, 2008. "People's Mobility and Guanxi Networks: A Case Study," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 16(5), pages 103-117, September.
    8. Cui, Yuling & Nahm, Daehoon & Tani, Massimiliano, 2012. "The Determinants of Rural Migrants' Employment Choice in China: Results from a Joint Estimation," IZA Discussion Papers 6968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Terry Sicular & Yaohui Zhao, 2002. "Earnings and Labor Mobility in Rural China: Implications for China's WTO Entry," University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20028, University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute.
    10. Weng, Yulei & Xu, Hao, 2018. "How guanxi affects job search outcomes in China? Job match and job turnover," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 70-82.
    11. Thomas Vendryes, 2011. "Migration constraints and development: Hukou and capital accumulation in China," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00783794, HAL.
    12. Hao Wang & Jan Fidrmuc & Qi Luo & Mingzhong Luo, 2018. "What Stayers Do? Capital Endowments and On-Farm Transitions in Rural China," CESifo Working Paper Series 7306, CESifo.
    13. Liqiu Zhao & Xianguo Yao, 2017. "Does local social capital deter labour migration? Evidence from rural China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4363-4377, September.
    14. Chengxiang Wang & Zehua Pang & Chang Gyu Choi, 2023. "Township, County Town, Metropolitan Area, or Foreign Cities? Evidence from House Purchases by Rural Households in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, May.
    15. Foltz, Jeremy & Guo, Yunnan & Yao, Yang, 2020. "Lineage networks, urban migration and income inequality: Evidence from rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 465-482.
    16. Andrea Cutillo & Claudio Ceccarelli, 2010. "The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy," Working Papers in Public Economics 137, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    17. Fields, Gary S. & Meng, Xin & Song, Yang, 2022. "Earnings mobility during labor market reforms in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    18. Stephen Drinkwater, 2003. "Go West? Assessing the willingness to move from Central and Eastern European Countries," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0503, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    19. Eliane El Badaoui & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2014. "The Impact of Internal Migration on Local Labour Markets in Thailand," Working Papers hal-04141356, HAL.
    20. Wang, Xiaobing & Herzfeld, Thomas & Glauben, Thomas, 2007. "Labor allocation in transition: Evidence from Chinese rural households," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 287-308.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:21:y:2003:i:4:p:500-511. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.