Impact of Return Migration on Employment Structure: Evidence from Rural China

Research on the impact of returnees on rural economic development in China is scarce with the increasing number of migrant workers returning to the countryside from Chinese cities. Data from China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) of 2014 and 2016 are used in this paper, attempting to discuss this i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Asian economics 2024-04, Vol.91, p.101697, Article 101697
Main Authors: Xu, Xuelu, Jin, Zeyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employment structure
Off-farm job opportunity
Peer effect
Return migration
Rural China
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Summary:Research on the impact of returnees on rural economic development in China is scarce with the increasing number of migrant workers returning to the countryside from Chinese cities. Data from China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) of 2014 and 2016 are used in this paper, attempting to discuss this issue from the perspective of the impact of returnees on the employment of the non-migrant labor force based on occupational skill structure. It is found that the higher the proportion of returnees at the county level is, the more non-migrants will shift to non-agricultural areas after controlling for the exogenous factors of returning reason. Stayers are more likely to work in the medium-skilled secondary industry and construction and escape away from the low-skilled service sector. Off-farm job opportunity and peer effect may be two main channels of returnees to influence job structure of non-migrants. This paper provides empirical evidence on the contribution of Chinese returnees to non-agricultural economic development in rural areas.
ISSN:1049-0078
1873-7927
DOI:10.1016/j.asieco.2023.101697