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Self-employment Choices of Rural Migrants in China: Distance and Social Network

Author

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  • Zhou, Yexin

    (Stockholm China Economic Research Institute)

  • Chen, Mo
  • Ye, Jingyi

Abstract

In Chinese cities, rural migrants on average are less educated and poorer than the urban locals. Migration is costly, especially for those who choose to move to provinces faraway from their hometowns. A larger fraction of the rural migrants are self-employed than that of the urban locals. The social contacts of migrants in the host cities often help them to find jobs or to start businesses. We studied the choice of self-employment of rural migrants in Beijing, using a migrant dataset collected from 2007 to 2012. The result shows that the self-employed rural migrants in Beijing tend to be females, migrating from faraway provinces, with more social contacts, and either having the highest education or the lowest. Education and social capital are positively correlated with earning for both wage-earners and self-employed, with different magnitudes. We use a search model to explain this.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Yexin & Chen, Mo & Ye, Jingyi, 2014. "Self-employment Choices of Rural Migrants in China: Distance and Social Network," Stockholm School of Economics Asia Working Paper Series 2014-31, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm China Economic Research Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hascer:2014-031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Xinyuan Wang & Daisheng Tang & Yahong Liu & Tao Bu, 2023. "The impact of high-speed railway on labor market between the North and South: evidence from China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 71(2), pages 487-515, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-employmen; Rural Migrants; Social Network;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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