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The education of migrant children in China's urban public elementary schools: Evidence from Shanghai

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  • Chen, Yuanyuan
  • Feng, Shuaizhang

Abstract

The education of migrant children critically determines the level of human capital of China's future labor force. The majority of migrant children in Chinese cities now study in public schools. This paper uses self-collected data in Shanghai in 2010 and 2012 to evaluate the performance of migrant students in public elementary schools. We find that across schools, migrant students with better family background enter into schools with higher quality. Within the same schools, migrant students perform as well as their local counterparts, in both cognitive and non-cognitive dimensions. Our results suggest that there is no evidence of within-school discrimination against migrant students within public schools, and the key to improving their education is access to better schools.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:54:y:2019:i:c:p:390-402
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2019.02.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiaodong Zheng & Yanran Zhou, 2024. "Are migrants a threat? Migrant children and human capital investments among local households in urban China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Cixian Lv & Xiaotong Zhi & Jingjing Xu & Peijin Yang & Xinghua Wang, 2022. "Negative Impacts of School Class Segregation on Migrant Children’s Education Expectations and the Associated Mitigating Mechanism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-14, November.
    3. 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.
    4. Zhen Li & Yu Zhu & Yingji Wu, 2024. "Migrant Optimism in Educational Aspirations for Children in Big Cities in China: A Case Study of Native, Permanent Migrant and Temporary Migrant Parents in Shanghai," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(1), pages 1-30, February.
    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. Tani, Massimiliano & Xu, Lei & Zhu, Yu, 2021. "The impact of an un(der)funded inclusive education policy: Evidence from the 2013 China education panel survey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 768-784.
    7. Zhao, Qiran & Wang, Xiaobing & Rozelle, Scott, 2019. "Better cognition, better school performance? Evidence from primary schools in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 199-217.
    8. Qifan Ding & Qiaobing Wu, 2023. "Effects of Economic Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital on the Educational Expectation of Chinese Migrant Children," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1407-1432, June.
    9. Chen, Yuanyuan & Feng, Shuaizhang & Zhang, Jing & Zhuo, Yi, 2024. "Gender differences in adolescents’ noncognitive skill development during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 411-434.
    10. Ruiqi Deng & Yifan Gao, 2024. "Practices and Barriers to Promoting Educational Equity for Migrant Children in China from the Perspective of a Local Government," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    11. Liu, Xiaoyu & Chen, Boou & Zhang, Jinhua, 2024. "Peer effects of local students on the human capital of migrant children in middle schools: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public elementary schools; Sorting; Cognitive and non-cognitive skills; Within-school discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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