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Income transfers of Chinese rural migrants: some empirical evidence from Jinan

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  • Qiming Liu
  • Barry Reilly

Abstract

This paper explores the determinants of migrant remittances to rural households using data on male migrant workers drawn from the Jinan Municipality in Shandong province in the summer of 1995. The majority of migrants are found to retain close links with their rural households with 85% remitting some income in the 12 months preceding the survey date. The transfers accounted for over a third of urban labour earnings. A number of models are used to undertake the estimation of remittance functions. No evidence of altruistic behaviour is uncovered and evidence for exchange and coinsurance theories is mixed. Labour earnings proved the most robust determinant of the level of remittance and the remittance/wage elasticity calculated is found to be at the top end of the range of estimates obtained in the literature.

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  • Qiming Liu & Barry Reilly, 2004. "Income transfers of Chinese rural migrants: some empirical evidence from Jinan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(12), pages 1295-1313.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:36:y:2004:i:12:p:1295-1313
    DOI: 10.1080/0003684042000191101
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    5. Louinord Voltaire & Abdelhak Nassiri & Denis Bailly & Jean Boncoeur, 2011. "Effet d’une taxe et d’un droit d’entrée sur les consentements à payer des touristes pour de nouvelles réserves naturelles dans le golfe du Morbihan," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 92(2), pages 183-209.
    6. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Chang, Hongqin & Dong, Xiao-yuan & MacPhail, Fiona, 2011. "Labor Migration and Time Use Patterns of the Left-behind Children and Elderly in Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2199-2210.
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    9. Mudziviri Nziramasanga & Jonathan Yoder, 2013. "The check in the mail: household characteristics and migrant remittance from the US to Mexico," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(8), pages 1055-1073, March.
    10. Phan, Diep & Coxhead, Ian, 2016. "Rural-Urban Migration and Remittances in Vietnam Evidence from Migrant Tracer Data," Staff Paper Series 581, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
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    12. Ambrosius, Christian & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2014. "Do remittances increase borrowing?," Discussion Papers 2014/19, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    13. Farai Jena, 2015. "Do Migrant Remittances Affect Household Purchases of Physical Investments and Durable Goods? Evidence for Kenya," Working Paper Series 7915, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    14. Lanfang Deng & Haizheng Li & Zhiqiang Liu, 2023. "The impact of family co-residence and childcare on children’s cognitive skills," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(26), pages 3008-3025, June.
    15. Ambrosius, Christian & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2016. "Remittances and the Use of Formal and Informal Financial Services," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 80-98.
    16. Hui Hu & Weijun Ran & Yuchen Wei & Xiang Li, 2020. "Do Energy Resource Curse and Heterogeneous Curse Exist in Provinces? Evidence from China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-26, August.
    17. K Clark & S Drinkwater, 2001. "An Investigation of Household Remittance Behaviour," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0114, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    18. Liqiu Zhao & Shouying Liu & Wei Zhang, 2018. "New Trends in Internal Migration in China: Profiles of the New†generation Migrants," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(1), pages 18-41, January.
    19. Lee, Sang-Hyop & Sukrakarn, Nopparat & Choi, Jin-Young, 2011. "Repeat migration and remittances: Evidence from Thai migrant workers," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 142-151, April.
    20. Eugenia Markova & Barry Reilly, 2007. "Bulgarian Migrant Remittances and Legal Status: Some Micro-Level Evidence from Madrid," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 5(1), pages 55-69.

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