Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China

de Brauw, Alan ; Giles, John

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY;    ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS;    AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4526
RP-ID  :  WPS4526

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper investigates how reductionsof barriers to migration affect the decision of middleschool graduates to attend high school in rural China.Change in the cost of migration is identified usingexogenous variation across counties in the timing ofnational identity card distribution, which made it easierfor rural migrants to register as temporary residents inurban destinations. The analysis first shows that timing ofidentification card distribution is unrelated to localrainfall shocks affecting migration decisions, and thattiming is not related to proxies reflecting time-varyingchanges in village policy or administrative capacity. Thefindings show a robust negative relationship between migrantopportunity and high school enrollment. The mechanismsbehind the negative relationship are suggested by observedincreases in subsequent local and migrant non-agriculturalemployment of high school age young adults as the size ofthe current village migrant network increases.