Evolution of the Chinese Rural-Urban Migrant Labor Market from 2002 to 2007

35 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2011 Last revised: 20 Sep 2023

See all articles by Zhaopeng (Frank) Qu

Zhaopeng (Frank) Qu

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Zhong Zhao

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Renmin University of China

Abstract

The paper studies the dynamic change of the migrant labor market in China from 2002 to 2007 using two comparable data sets. Our focus is on the rural-urban migration decision, the wage structure of migrants, the urban labor market segmentation between migrants and urban natives, and the changes of these aspects from 2002 to 2007. We find that prior migration experience is a key factor for the migration decision of rural household members, and its importance keeps increasing from 2002 to 2007. Our results show that there is a significant increase in wages among both migrants and urban natives over this 5-year period, but migrants have enjoyed faster wage growth, and most of the increase of wages among migrants can be attributed to the increase of returns to their characteristics. We also find evidence suggesting convergence of urban labor markets for migrants and for urban natives during this 5-year period.

Keywords: migration decision, wage structure, labor market, rural-urban migration, segmentation, China

JEL Classification: J21, J61, O15

Suggested Citation

Qu, Zhaopeng (Frank) and Zhao, Zhong, Evolution of the Chinese Rural-Urban Migrant Labor Market from 2002 to 2007. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5421, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1741609 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1741609

Zhaopeng (Frank) Qu (Contact Author)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Zhong Zhao

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Renmin University of China ( email )

Room B906
Xianjin Building
Beijing, Beijing 100872
China

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