Zai Liang

Market Transition, Government Policies, and Interprovincial Migration in China: 1983-1988

A 10% random sample of China 1988 2/1000 Fertility and Birth Control Survey data was analyzed to determine to what extent Chinas transition to a market economy affects migration patterns in the country and to what extent the government policy of establishing rural enterprises reduced migration from rural areas. The survey was conducted by Chinas State Family Planning Commission in July-August 1988 and covered a nationally representative sample of individuals aged 15-64 years at the time of the survey. Data were collected on interprovincial migration trends for all members in the households surveyed. The study findings concerning individual-level characteristics of interprovincial migration during 1983-88 are consistent with previous research in China and in other developing countries. However unique to the findings for China is the effect of province-level characteristics. Individuals are more likely to move out of provinces with a large population and a lower level of economic development. This phenomenon is in line with classic arguments about migration and economic development. Foreign investment slightly reduces migration out of provinces receiving investment with migrants being more likely to choose provinces with high levels of foreign capital investment as destinations. Foreign investment leads to both direct job opportunities and secondary opportunities created by economic growth.

Internal migration in China, 1950–1988

This paper examines the long-term patterns of migration within China between 1950 and 1988. The analysis uses data from China S 1988 211,000 Fertility and Birth Control Survey, which asks respondents about their most recent interprovincial move. The results suggest that long-term migration patterns can be explained by political and economic changes in China. We argue that the approaches we introduce can offer significant insight into long-term migration patterns for countries where historical data on migration are unavailable or unreliable.

Migration and Gender in China: An Origin‐Destination Linked Approach*

During the past 2 decades, major social and economic transformations have occurred in China. One of the demographic consequences of these changes is the large increase in the migrant population. In the prereform era, the Chinese government strictly controlled and regulated migration through the household registration system (hukou) and other mechanisms. Since the late 1970s, however, the role of household registration has weakened so much that one does not need to obtain local hukou in order to migrate. Migration, especially floating migrant population, is clearly on the rise. Social scientists are quick to take the opportunity to study different aspects of migration. Not surprisingly, with few exceptions, most studies of migration focus on migrant men even though women constitute a high proportion of the migrant population. According to the 1990 China Population Census, migrant women account for 46% of intraprovincial migrants and 42% of interprovincial migrants in China. The most recent data from the 2000 Chinese census show that 52% of migrants are women. Although the subject of female migration is relatively neglected for other countries as well, the Chinese case promises a particularly interesting comparison because of its current hukou system. Originally designed and implemented in the late 1950s, hukou was and continues to be an important institution that is associated with entitlements, such as housing, medical care, and jobs, as well as children’s education. Before 1978, not having hukou meant that migrants would not be able to find jobs and housing, let alone benefits such as medical care and pension. Notwithstanding, since China initiated market reforms in the late 1970s, the function of China’s hukou system has been gradually declining but still plays an important role in the receipt of

Intermarriage of Asian Americans in the New York City Region: Contemporary Patterns and Future Prospects

Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census, as well as in-depth interviews, this article examines the intermarriage patterns of five Asian-American groups in the New York City region: Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Japanese and Filipinos. Intermarriage patterns for all five Asian groups are analyzed, according to gender, nativity and education. American-born Asians are much more likely to intermarry than foreign-born Asians. Asian women are much more likely to intermarry than Asian men. We also find little evidence for Robert Mertons hypothesis that minority men exchange their high socioeconomic status for a white womans “high” social status. Evidence strongly indicates that intermarried individuals share educational homogeneity. This analysis is further substantiated by in-depth interviews with intermarried couples who live in the region. The consequences and future prospects of intermarriage for Asian Americans are also discussed.

Cumulative causation, market transition, and emigration from China.

This article reports findings from a recent survey of international migration from China’s Fujian Province to the United States. Using the ethnosurvey approach developed in the Mexican Migration Project, the authors conducted surveys in migrant‐sending communities in China as well as in destination communities in New York City. Hypotheses are derived from the international migration literature and the market transition debate. The results are generally consistent with hypotheses derived from cumulative causation of migration; however, geographical location creates some differences in migration patterns to the United States. In China as in Mexico, the existence of migration networks increases the propensity of migration for others in the community. In contrast to the Mexican case, among Chinese immigrants, having a previously migrated household member increases the propensity of other household members to migrate only after the debt for previous migration is paid off. In step with market transition theory, the authors also find that political power influences the migration experience from the coastal Fujian Province.

On the Measurement of Naturalization

This paper proposes a new way of measuring naturalization, which takes into account both emigration and death. I argue that the new method corrects for underestimation and thus provides a more accurate measure of the concept. Using data from six groups of the 1973 immigrant cohort and multiple-decrement life table techniques, I estimated and compared naturalization measures derived from new and old methods. The results show that failure to control for emigration has a significant effect on the measurement of naturalization, particularly if an immigrant group has relatively high rate of emigration. Some further substantive implications of this new method are also explored.

International Migration and the Education of Left-Behind Children in Fujian, China

This study examines the educational consequences of the migration of parents on the children who are left behind in Fujian Province, China. Specifically, we compare the school enrollment of children from emigrant households with those from non-emigrant households. The data are drawn from the 1995 China 1% Population Sample Survey. We find consistent evidence that emigration affects the educational opportunity of the left-behind children in a positive way. First, children from emigrant households are more likely to be enrolled in schools than children from non-emigrant households. Second, emigration also has positive consequences in reducing the gender gap in education. While girls from non-emigrant households still experience a lower enrollment rate, the overall school enrollment for boys and girls from emigrant households has been approaching convergence.

Interprovincial return migration in China: individual and contextual determinants in Sichuan province in the 1990s

Chinas massive volume of and dramatic increase in migration have stimulated increasing research in this area. However, researchers have not paid sufficient attention to return migration until recently when the issue of migrant labor shortage in Southern China has been linked to return migration back to the rural areas. Taking advantage of information contained in the 1995 China 1% Population Sample Survey and the 2000 China Census, this paper provides a systematic analysis of interprovincial return migration to Sichuan province, one of the most important migrant-sending provinces in China. We focus on return migrant selectivity, the impact of local labor-market conditions and migration networks on return migration, and nonfarm work participation among return migrants. Return migration in the late 1990s shows positive selection on education and return migrants are more likely to engage in nonfarm work. The pattern for the early 1990s is just the opposite of what is observed in the late 1990s. Our multilevel models show that labor-market conditions as well as migration networks in destination areas play important roles in the return migration process. Policy implications of this trend of return migration are discussed.

Migration within China and from China to the USA: The effects of migration networks, selectivity, and the rural political economy in Fujian Province

This paper tests a new strategy for simultaneously studying internal migration within, and international migration from, China. Our theoretical discussion draws on ideas from migration-networks theory and studies of the transition to a market-oriented economy. Data collection is modelled on the Mexican Migration Project. We find that education is more important in initiating internal migration than international migration. Second, although the role of migration networks at a community level seems similar to that for Mexico–USA migration, the networks at a family level show a different pattern. Third, there is evidence that internal and international migration are competing options. Finally, we find that individuals with cadres (public officials) in the family are less likely to undertake internal migration, but more likely to participate in international migration, a finding that highlights the continuing significance of the cadres in coastal rural China.

Migration and Remittances: Evidence from a Poor Province in China*

This paper examines patterns of remittances among migrants from Guizhou province of China. Our research is motivated by three lines of theoretical arguments, namely the new economics of migration, a translocal perspective linking remittances and development, and the culture of remittances. Taking individual, household, and village-level characteristics into account, we estimated multilevel logistic models of the decision to remit and multilevel models of the amount of remittances. Our results show that migrant remittance behaviour is responsive to family needs as well as household economic position in the village. Migrants who come from entrepreneurial households are more likely to remit a large amount than other types of households. We find some evidence of ‘culture of remittances’ in these villages. Consistent with our expectations, migrants who are from villages with higher amounts of average remittances are likely to remit a larger amount than otherwise.