C. Cindy Fan

The Elite, the Natives, and the Outsiders: Migration and Labor Market Segmentation in Urban China

Established migration theories are mostly based on capitalist market economies and downplay the role of institutions in internal migration and labor market processes. In socialist and transitional economies such as those in Russia and China, however, investigations of migration and the labor market must begin by examining the nature and consequences of state institutions. In this article, I argue that the migration and labor market processes in Chinese cities are deeply influenced by an institution-based opportunity structure. The household registration (hukou) system, in particular, is interwoven with distribution of services and job opportunities. Most peasants who enter cities in response to increased demands for cheap labor are not granted urban citizenship and are treated as “outsiders” to the urban society. The experiences of these “temporary migrants” contrast with those of “permanent migrants” who are state-sponsored or have access to institutional resources. Using qualitative accounts from a 1995 village-level survey in Sichuan and Anhui and quantitative data from a survey I conducted in Guangzhou in 1998, this article examines the most salient differences among the three subpopulations with different resident statuses: nonmigrant urban natives, permanent migrants, and temporary migrants. I show that resident status is central to explaining migration processes and labor market segmentation in the Chinese city. The findings indicate that in terms of human capital attributes, mobility resources, and labor market entry and shifts, permanent migrants are the most privileged and successful elite, followed by nonmigrant natives, and finally by temporary migrants at the bottom of the hierarchy. These results hint at a new social order of stratification in Chinese cities, underscore the compelling relations between internal migration and labor market development in transitional economies, and suggest that in these economies the state deepens the bifurcation effects about which labor market segmentation theory is concerned.

Industrial Agglomeration and Development: A Survey of Spatial Economic Issues in East Asia and a Statistical Analysis of Chinese Regions

Abstract In this article, we explore the issue of industrial agglomeration and its relationship to economic development and growth in the less-developed countries of East Asia. We present theoretical arguments and secondary empirical evidence as to why we should have strong expectations about finding a positive relationship between agglomeration and economic performance. We also review evidence from the literature on the roles of formal and informal institutions in East Asian regional economic systems. We then focus specifically on the case of China. We argue that regional development in China has much in common with regional development in other East Asian economies, although there are also important contrasts because of China’s history of socialism and its recent trend toward economic liberalization. Through a variety of statistical investigations, we substantiate (in part) the expected positive relationship between agglomeration and economic performance in China. We show that many kinds of manufacturing sectors are characterized by a strong positive relationship between spatial agglomeration and productivity. This phenomenon is especially marked in sectors and regions where liberalization has proceeded rapidly. We consider the relevance of our comments about industrial clustering and economic performance for policy formulation in China and the less-developed countries of East Asia.

Regional Inequality in China, 1978-2006

Using the most recent statistical data, two U.S.-based geographers document the changes and level of regional inequality in China for the period 1978-2006, in order to shed light on whether recent government efforts toward inequality reduction have had observable effects. The paper reveals the spatial dynamics that underlie regional inequality by decomposing interprovincial inequality into its interregional and intraregional components, and investigating the growth trajectories of regions and provinces. The authors demonstrate that interprovincial inequality declined during the 1980s, increased in the 1990s, was relatively stable from the late 1990s to 2004, and has declined thereafter. Through closer analysis, they show how the trend in interprovincial inequality up to 2004 has been shaped by countervailing patterns in (declining) intraregional inequality and (increasing) interregional inequality. Since 2004, however, the study reveals that both interregional and intraregional inequalities have declined, reflecting convergence in growth rates among provinces and among regions. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: I31, O18, R12. 9 figures, 1 table, 77 references, 1 appendix.

The political economy of uneven development: the case of China

This book contains a thorough and balanced series of dialogues introducing key topics in philosophy of religion, such as: the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, religious pluralism, the nature of religious experience, immortality, and the meaning of life. A realistic cast of characters in a natural setting engages in a series of thought-provoking conversations the dialogue format of these conversations captures typical student attitudes and questions concerning religious belief allows comparison of important themes throughout the dialogues encourages the interjection of insights, observations, questions, and objections and introduces related points when they would naturally arise, instead of relegating them to a later chapter. As well as presenting a detailed and probing discussion, each dialogue includes a list of key terms, a set of study questions, and a bibliography - all of which make this an excellent text for courses in philosophy of religion and introductory philosophy classes.

Uneven development and beyond: regional development theory in post-Mao China

Post-Mao China is marked by priorities which unlike Maoist redistributive policies encourage and tolerate uneven regional development. But this approach has been under severe attack, and the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) which calls for narrowing the regional gap signals that new policies are due. These changes reflect shifts in development philosophies and theories, which are overlooked by many existing studies which emphasize only policies and their outcome. This paper explores the thoughts and ideas that underlie post-Mao regional policy, by reviewing the Chinese literature on regional development from about 1985 to 1995. New applications of socialism and the influence of Western theories have helped to remove the stigma associated with uneven regional development, and have guided post-Mao regional policy which favors the more developed eastern region. But the uneven regional development policy is blamed for the escalation in regional inequality, outflows of resources from poorer inland provinces, and regional conflicts and protectionism. More recent research which advocates renewed attention on and regional diffusion to the inland region, has inspired a new generation of regional development models and has influenced urban and regional policy. Nevertheless, the theory of Chinese regional development continues to be constrained by the obligation to justify official policy, and a lack of attention to firms, enterprises, and the relations between production and space. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1997.

Waves of Rural Brides: Female Marriage Migration in China

Conventional views on marriage migration consider it primarily family-related, and portray female marriage migrants as mostly passive, tied movers. Marriage as an economic strategy is seldom studied. We argue that a structural framework enables analysis of the complexities underlying female marriage migration, stressing institutional, economic, and sociocultural factors that impose constraints on and provide opportunities for womens mobility. A review of the historical and social roles of marriage in China shows that its transactional nature undermines womens status but offers disadvantaged women an opportunity to achieve social and economic mobility. Based on statistical analyses of a one-percent sample of Chinas 1990 Census, we show that peasant women in poor areas are constrained by their institutional positions, rural origins, and low education and status, shutting them out from cities and the urban labor market. Yet in the face of these constraints, many women, in exchange for economic opportuniti...

Interprovincial Migration, Population Redistribution, and Regional Development in China: 1990 and 2000 Census Comparisons

Abstract Until recently, migration has had a limited role to play in Chinas space economy because of central-planning logic and mechanisms. Mobility increases and economic restructuring since the 1980s, however, call for new conceptualizations of migration. Using interprovincial migration data from Chinas 1990 and 2000 censuses, I analyze migration rates, migration effectiveness, population growth, net migration flows, and spatial focusing of migration. The analysis supports the notions that migration is an increasingly effective factor of population redistribution and that it has a strong relationship with regional development. While these relationships have been documented in many other parts of the world, they have been less well addressed in the case of China. Regional divergence in economic development during the 1990s was accompanied by a marked increase in interprovincial migration and sharply concentrated migration flows, especially from relatively poor central and western provinces to the rapidly growing eastern region. These results suggest that migration theories that draw from experiences of capitalist economies may be of increased relevance to China. *This research was partially supported by a UCLA Academic Senate research grant. I would like to acknowledge Jiantao Lu for research assistance and Chase Langford for cartographic assistance. I would also like to thank Truman Hartshorn and seven anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the paper.

Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

The tremendous changes in Chinas development philosophy and regional economies during the last two decades have carved out selectively new locations of development across the nation. While politicians heatedly debate the acceptable levels of regional inequality, most scholarly studies focus on broad aggregate trends of inequality among provinces and groups of provinces, and pay little attention to identifying and conceptualizing sources and major agents of spatial change. This paper aims at revealing detailed spatial ramifications of the reforms, and at understanding the impacts of the state, local agents, and foreign investors on regional development. To this effect, we conduct a disaggregated and empirical study of Jiangsu, a coastal province experiencing dramatic economic and spatial restructuring. We show that local agents which favor rural industrial enterprises accelerated new growth in selected rural areas, in contrast to slower growth of older cities and state-owned enterprises, resulting in a net decline of intercounty inequality. But the coalescence of state policy, local agents, and foreign investment has widened the historical gap between northern and southern Jiangsu, and is likely to accelerate intercounty inequality in the future. Our study demonstrates the utility of the “developments from above, below and outside” framework for analyzing key forces of regional growth in socialist transitional economies.

Migration in a socialist transitional economy: heterogeneity socioeconomic and spatial characteristics of migrants in China and Guangdong province.

The peculiar features of Chinas socialist transitional economy, including the coexistence of “plan” and “nonplan” mechanisms, the hukou institution, uneven spatial development, and gendered constraints and opportunities, have brought about a high degree of heterogeneity among population movements. Using the 1990 Census data on reasons for migration, and an empirical analysis of both national patterns and migration in Guangdong, I document the socioeconomic characteristics and spatial patterns of major types of migration, focusing on migration for employment in industry and business, male migration due to job transfer, and female marriage migration. I argue that the multitude of migration types, and the contrasts among them, are products of the combination of state-planning and market mechanisms. The findings highlight institutional explanations for migration, and show that the “plan”-“nonplan” dichotomy is more meaningful than the economic-social dichotomy for understanding population movements in China.

Modeling Interprovincial Migration in China, 1985-2000

Using data from Chinas 1990 and 2000 censuses, this paper examines interprovincial migration by describing its spatial patterns and estimating models based on the gravity approach. Between the censuses, interprovincial migration increased considerably in size and became more unidirectional and concentrated. Modeling results highlight the role of regional economic disparity and migration stock, as well as the gravity variables of population and distance, in explaining migration flows. Over time, the effect of regional disparity has increased, while that of distance decreased. Findings suggest that models based on experiences of countries lacking migration control are increasingly relevant for China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: C10, O15, O18. 3 figures, 3 tables, 45 references.