Africa's urban population is on the rise, and it is often feared that migrants are a direct source of urban underdevelopment under the premise that they are poorly integrated into urban labor markets. This study examines the validity of this premise using data from six African countries. It...

We document that large cities were instrumental in shaping women's work and family outcomes in the early 20th century. We focus on migrants to Stockholm, Sweden's largest city, using representative, linked census data. Female migrants to Stockholm saw persistent changes in work and family...

This study investigates broadband internet's impact on rural-urban migration in China, using the Universal Broadband and Telecommunication Services pilot program as a quasi-experimental setting. Analyzing China Household Finance Survey data (2013-2021) through difference-in-differences...

We examine sorting behavior across metropolitan areas by skill over individuals' life cycles. We show that high-skill workers disproportionately sort into high-amenity areas, but do so relatively early in life. Workers of all skill levels tend to move towards lower-amenity areas during their...

We examine sorting behavior across metropolitan areas by skill over individuals' life cycles. We show that high-skill workers disproportionately sort into high-amenity areas, but do so relatively early in life. Workers of all skill levels tend to move towards lower-amenity areas during their...

This paper studies households' expenditure on the education of children in China's cities to assess how internal migrant families' investment in the human capital of their offspring differs from that of local urban families. The private education-related expenditure reflects both households'...

This research examines the heterogeneous impact of out-migration on the informal employment within the framework of rural transformation in Nepal. Employing a multinomial Probit model with instrumental variables, we analyze the influence of household-level migration on the informal employment...

This study investigates the effects of city size and administrative rank on rural-urban migration in China and examines the factors that influence the city size effect. We focus on unemployed while job-seeking migrants. Using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey for 2016 and 2017, we find...

China's Industrial Transfer Policy (ITP) is a novel place-based development policy of unprecedented scale. The policy targets a set of inland cities aiming to i) grow them in size and ii) restructure them into manufacturing hubs. These cities would eventually relieve pressure in China's coastal...

Under China's household registration (hukou) system, children with rural hukou do not have equal rights to access education in urban areas. This paper investigates the causal effect of hukou status on children's education by exploiting an exogenous change in hukou status induced by the hukou...

This study aims to bridge the gap in the existing literature by examining the impact of prevailing traditional slavery institutions and democratization processes on human capital development. In our pursuit, we conducted a residential survey in Sumba Island, Indonesia. Notably, despite...

This study investigates migration flows between urban and rural areas in Russia from 2011 to 2020 and explores potential drivers using a combination of Markov chain and spatial interaction modelling approaches. The findings indicate a high likelihood of rural-to-urban migration, leading to...

Under China's household registration (hukou) system, children with rural hukou lack equal access to education in urban areas. This paper investigates the causal effect of hukou status on children's education by exploiting an exogenous change in hukou status induced by the hukou reform in 1998....

Western literature shows evidence of a positive relationship between socio-spatial features of neighbourhoods and social interaction. However, there is little research exploring this relationship in the Chinese context, particularly between locals and migrants in peri-urban China where...

In developing nations, remittances play a vital role in the development of the society. Remittances serve as a substantial income stream for rural households, empowering them to invest in farming activities, procure resources, and enhance their overall quality of life. This study focuses on...

This study estimates union wage premiums and analyzes the influence of trade unions on the wage gap between rural migrants and local urban workers in China by employing the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method based on national longitudinal survey data from the China Family Panel Studies...

Rural-to-urban migration in China has transformed the lives of millions of rural residents. This paper reviews empirical evidence on the impacts of migration on the welfare of individuals and households in rural communities. After first discussing the evolution of institutions that have shaped...

We re-examine the effects of negative weather anomalies during the growing season on the decision to migrate in rural households in five sub-Saharan African countries. To this end we combine a multi-country household panel dataset with high-resolution gridded precipitation data. We find that...

The present document examines the role of social and economic transformation in the process of poverty reduction in China. China's economic growth and poverty reduction over the past 40 years are historically unprecedented both in speed and scale. Between 1978 and 2018 China's economy grew at an...

We re-examine the effects of negative weather anomalies during the growing season on the decision to migrate in rural households in five sub-Saharan African countries. To this end we combine a multi-country household panel dataset with high-resolution gridded precipitation data. We find that...

Using data from the China Household Income Project in 2013 and 2018, this paper studies relative poverty among rural hukou holders living in urban China and urban hukou holders. People living in households with an income below a fixed percent of the median per-capita income and wealth below the...

Using individual panel data from Australia, this paper finds that people in urban areas are less happy than those in other areas. In fixed effects models, the urban effect on happiness is estimated by comparing the happiness levels of migrants when they are in urban areas to levels in other...

This paper investigates the aggregate and distributional effects of urbanization and migration in China using a spatial equilibrium model and population sample survey data from 2005 and 2015. Our quantitative results show a high (low) elasticity of substitution between rural migrants and...

This paper studies the effect of house price co-movement on inter-city labor migration. We construct instrumental variables for pairwise house price co-movement with banking integration, which is largely exogenous given the institutional background of China. We find that house price co-movement...