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Do Public Work Schemes Deter or Encourage Outmigration? Empirical Evidence from China

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  • Kanbur, Ravi
  • Chau, Nancy H
  • Qin, Yu

Abstract

How does the introduction of rural public work schemes impact individual incentives to migrate? This paper examines this question in the context of rural public work program (Yigong-daizhen) in China, and unveils empirical evidence that suggest that the introduction of Yigong-daizhen projects in fact stimulates outmigration at the village level, after controlling for village characteristics and project types. By furthermore accounting for the endogeneity of Yigong-daizhen placement, the impact of such projects is found to be even larger. These results are consistent with household migration behavior in the presence of significant cost of migration, and credit market imperfection.

Suggested Citation

  • Kanbur, Ravi & Chau, Nancy H & Qin, Yu, 2012. "Do Public Work Schemes Deter or Encourage Outmigration? Empirical Evidence from China," CEPR Discussion Papers 8778, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8778
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mahé, Clotilde, 2017. "Does publicly provided health care affect migration? Evidence from Mexico," MERIT Working Papers 2017-049, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Huaxin Wang-Lu & Octasiano Miguel Valerio Mendoza, 2022. "Job Prospects and Labour Mobility in China," Papers 2207.08282, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2022.
    4. Nandy, Amarendu & Tiwari, Chhavi & Kundu, Sayantan, 2021. "India’s Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme – How does it influence seasonal rural out-migration decisions?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1181-1203.
    5. Sheahan, Megan & Liu, Yanyan & Narayanan, Sudha & Barrett, Christopher B., 2015. "Disaggregated labor supply implications of guaranteed employment in India," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 237345, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Kanbur, Ravi, 2013. "Exposure and Dialogue Programs in the Training of Development Analysts and Practitioners," Working Papers 180097, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Outmigration; Public works schemes; Rural china;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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