Does Migration Distance Affect Happiness? Evidence From Internal Migrants in China

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Ge Zheng¹  Dongliang Yang¹  Jiawei Li¹ 

[1] Department of Regional Economics, School of Northeast Asian, Jilin University;Northeast Asian Research Center, Jilin University;Department of Accounting, School of Economics and Management, Changchun University of Technology

关键词: migration distance;    happiness;    social integration;    mental health;    Chinese internal migrants;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.913553

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background Happiness is a complex concept involving many subjects such as society, psychology, and ethics. How will migration distance affect migrants' happiness under the new trend of migration in China? The goal of this paper is to analyze the influence and transmission mechanism of migration distance on happiness of migrant individuals, and the heterogeneity of this effect on urban and rural migrants. Methods Employing data of 129,803 observations from the 2012 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we first estimate the effects of migration distance on happiness by the ordinal logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) method. Second, we examine the heterogeneity of effect by splitting the sample into the urban and rural migrants. Finally, we analyze the transmission mechanism of migration distance on happiness by mediating effect model. Results The migration distance of internal migrants in China has a significant negative impact on happiness. Urban migrant individuals show a stronger response to migration distance compared to rural counterparts. Social integration is proved as the potential mechanism through which the effect of migration distance on happiness. Conclusion The results emphasize happiness of internal migrant and other mental health problems. Moreover, particular attention should be paid to social integration on happiness, such as strengthening the cultural exchange in different areas, narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas, promoting rational migrant decision of individual, and enhancing the happiness of them.

【 授权许可】

CC BY