Market mechanisms and migrant settlement intentions in urban China

ABSTRACT

This study examines the settlement intentions of migrants based on original survey data collected from four large Chinese cities. Despite the long-lasting institutional effects of the hukou (household registration) system, market mechanisms are becoming increasingly important in affecting migrant settlement intentions. Although rural hukou holders are more likely to return to their places of origin, migrants who have received higher education, who are self-employed or who own homes are more willing to permanently settle in cities. The influences of market mechanisms are also reflected in recent policy reforms related to education, housing and the hukou system.

KEYWORDS:

• Migrant
• settlement intention
• China

Acknowledgements

We thank the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Yeqing Huang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2306-2920

Fei Guo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9371-0463

Zhiming Cheng http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7996-0586

Notes

1 See http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2014-03/16/content_2640075.htm.

2 Different measures were adopted by different metropolises (e.g. the hukou quota distribution in Beijing and the points test in Shanghai). To change their hukou status, migrants must satisfy numerous requirements related to education levels, skills, economic capabilities, etc. These requirements are generally excessively demanding, and few migrants successfully achieve hukou status in Beijing.

3 The term ‘de facto permanent settlement’ was coined by Yang and Guo (2015). It refers to a form of settlement that involves purchasing urban residential property from rural-to-urban migrants without transferring their rural hukou status to local urban hukou registration.

4 State Council (2014) Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform of the Household Registration System (国务院关于进一步推进户籍制度改革的意见), see, http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2014-07/30/content_8944.htm. Retrieved, June 8, 2016.

5 See http://www.economist.com/news/china/21640396-how-fix-chinese-cities-great-sprawl-china. Retrieved, June 8, 2016.

6 For instance, Shanghai has applied the Point Redemption Policy since 2013. For more information, see http://gw.yjbys.com/xize/8611.html. Retrieved, June 23, 2016.

7 Stating that one is ‘unsure’ about settlement includes having plans either to move to another city or to engage in circular migration between rural and urban areas.

Additional information

Funding

This research received support from a number of institutions and funding agencies: the Young Scholar Project of the National Social Science Fund of China entitled ‘Welfare Attitudes of Migrants and Welfare Inequality in China’ (project number: 12CSH085), the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program Project (project number: PJ [2012]0001374), the Australian Research Council Discovery Project entitled ‘Rural Migrant Labour in Large Chinese Cities’ (project number: DP0773060) and the Macquarie University Research Development Grant (project number: 92051501414)