Employment, Emerging Labor Markets, and the Role of Education in Rural China

Building new countryside in China: A geographical perspective

“…While 430 millions of agricultural labors were tilling 133 million hectares of land, it is estimated that 1/3 of the labors became surplus (Wu, 1997). Most of them shifted from farming to diversified productions run by households, villages or townships, or moved to the cities trying to find a new living (Zhang et al, , 2002. China's rural labor migration is directly linked to rural development through remittances, as well as through physical and human capital brought back by return migrants (Ma, 1999).…”

Migration and rural poverty in China

“…According to the CRPS data, educated persons are much more likely to migrate in 2000, but such a relationship is less obvious in 1997 for men. Zhang et al (2002) anddeBrauw et al (2002) identify the increasing importance of education in gaining access to off-farm activities.…”

Skill differentials, return to schooling, and market segmentation in a transition economy: the case of Mainland China

“…Skilled workers are in short supply, even if ''common'' labor experiences considerable underemployment. Zhang et al (2002) note that Mallee (2000) and Yang and Zhou (1999) demonstrate that a number of barriers, such as land tenure arrangements and mandatory marketing delivery quotas, have increased the cost of out-migration and dampen off-farm labor market participation. It appears plausible to us that the supply of TAS workers is less elastic than that of production workers, because there is surely a smaller pool of educated workers from which to attract new hires.…”