Rural Urban Migration And Its Impact On Economic Development In China

This book examines rural-urban migration policies in China, and considers how Chinese workers cope with migration events in the context of these policies. It explores the contribution of migrant workers to the Chinese economy, the impact of changes within the ‘hukou’ system (household registration) and the impact of recent migration policies promoting rural-urban migration and targeting key events during migrant workers’ migration trajectories - job-seeking, wage exploitation, work injuries and illness - namely the corresponding ‘Skills Training Program for Migrant Workers’, the ‘Circular on Managing Wage Payment to Migrant Workers’, the ‘Circular on Migrant Workers Participating in Work-Related Injury Insurance’, and the ‘New Rural Medical Cooperative Scheme’ (Health Insurance). Through in-depth interviews, it examines how when facing such challenges, migrant workers choose to either make a claim under existing policies, or use other coping strategies. The book notably proposes a typology of “coping” which includes a variety of administrative coping, political coping and social coping, and considers how workers in China harness the power of civil groups and social networks.

The number of poor people in China is huge, despite recent economic advances. This book investigates the problem of poverty in China's regions, discussing in particular the role of rural-urban migration in reducing poverty. It surveys the distribution and characteristics of poverty, examines anti-poverty initiatives by the Chinese government and includes the results of original research conducted in Shanxi, a typical province in Central China.

China has achieved remarkable progress in poverty alleviation since the start of its reforms. Rural-urban labour migration on an unprecedented scale played a vital role in rural income growth, poverty reduction and economic development. The present publication argues that although migration in China has unique institutional characteristics, the experiences and lessons to be drawn from considering migration as a development approach have important implications for the shaping of appropriate developmental policies.

Comprises 12 papers which explore the extent and nature of rural-urban migration in China during the 1980s and 1990s. Examines the characteristics of migrants at the individual, household and community levels and investigates the organizational aspect of labour flows. Analyses the effects of migration on rural and urban areas. Includes a chapter on the development of labour migration from Mexico to the USA.

Based upon an analysis of a national survey of migration conducted in late 1986 by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this book provides analyses of the volume and direction of movement, the characteristics and motivation of those who move, and the consequences of their moving.

How do rural Chinese households deal with the conflicting pressures of migrating into cities to work as well as staying at home to preserve their fields? This is particularly challenging for rice farmers, because paddy fields have to be cultivated continuously to retain their soil quality and value. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and written sources, this book describes farming households' strategic solutions to this predicament. It shows how, in light of rural-urban migration and agro-technological change, they manage to sustain both migration and farming. It innovatively conceives rural households as part of a larger farming community of practice that spans both staying and migrating household members and their material world. Focusing on one exemplary resource - paddy fields - it argues that socio-technical resources are key factors in understanding migration flows and migrant-home relations. Overall, this book provides rare insights into the rural side of migration and farmers' knowledge and agency.