Migrant opportunity and the educational attainment of youth in rural China

This paper investigates how the reduction of barriers to migration affected the decision of middle school graduates to attend high school in rural China. Change in the cost of migration is identified using exogenous variation across counties in the timing of national identity card distribution, whic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of human resources 2017, Vol.52 (1), p.272-311
Main Authors: De Brauw, Alan, Giles, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to education
Bildungsabschluss
Bildungsverhalten
Binnenwanderung
China
Convergence
Destinations
Educational attainment
Enrollments
Jugendlicher
Landbevölkerung
Middle schools
Migrants
Migration
National identity
Noncitizens
Rural areas
Rural communities
Secondary schools
Studium
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Summary:This paper investigates how the reduction of barriers to migration affected the decision of middle school graduates to attend high school in rural China. Change in the cost of migration is identified using exogenous variation across counties in the timing of national identity card distribution, which made it easier for rural migrants to register as temporary residents in urban destinations. After taking care to address potential strengths and weaknesses of our identification strategy, we find a robust, negative relationship between migrant opportunity and high school enrollment that cannot be explained by geographic convergence in access to education across rural China.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
1548-8004
DOI:10.3368/jhr.52.1.0813-5900R