Migrant Workers in Beijing: How Hometown Ties Affect Economic Outcomes

Abstract

Migrant networks have long been regarded as helpful for facilitating migration and assimilation. However, research examining the influence of migrant networks on labour market outcomes for migrants has provided mixed results. This article investigates the impact of hometown ties on migrants’ labour market outcomes in the context of Chinese internal migration, by utilizing data from migrants in Beijing to perform statistical analyses of income and informal employment (i.e. employment without legal documents). After adjusting for the potential bias that results from the workers’ self-selectivity into the use of hometown ties in finding jobs, the analyses show that the hourly income of migrants is lower if they depend on hometown ties to find jobs. Also, migrants who rely on hometown ties for jobs are more likely to be informally employed, which has a detrimental effect on their overall welfare.

Regulations in the era of new‐type urbanisation and migrant workers' settlement intentions: The case of Beijing

“…In the face of increasing risks and uncertainty, migrants might stick together as an economic safety net. The strong migrant group solidarity might isolate migrants from the resources available in the mainstream economy and lead to exploitation of the migrant employees (Swider, 2015; Zhao & Jin, 2019).…”

“…The influx of migrants to a particular locale exacerbates traffic congestion and environmental pollution and challenges urban infrastructure and public resources. Migrants also compete for a limited number of job opportunities and may take informal work (i.e., work without legal contracts) at lower wages than locals demand (Zhang, 2002; Zhao & Jin, 2019). In an effort to stem some of these negative consequences of migration, the Beijing city government has implemented several regulations since 2014 (see Table A1).…”

China and the Internationalisation of the Sociology of Contemporary Work and Employment

“…So, while rural migrant men generally lack the resources to live up to the urban hegemonic masculine ideal that values entrepreneurship, wealth, educational credentials and professional occupations, many nevertheless seek to set up their own businesses. However, none have household registration so cannot access urban welfare (see Swider, 2015b andZhao andJin, 2020). While the taxi drivers in the study saw themselves as individual operators running their own businesses, they were increasingly treated by taxi companies as service workers whose emotions and aesthetics had to be managed and controlled to meet the expectations of customers.…”

COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: Livelihood Struggles and Coping Experiences of Precarious Migrant Construction and Transport Workers in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria

“…The perpetration of precariat labour in the urban cities has been given further impetus by migration, both international and local, particularly ruralurban relocations. In their study of migrant workers in Beijing, Zhao & Jin (2020) presented a detailed account of how internal migrant networks utilising the arsenal of social capital served as a source of recruitment and settlement of the new precariat class. Such networks, according to them come in handy for a newly arrived migrant who now deploys his consanguineal and other relationships to deal with the emerging challenges, risks and other costs in the new labour market he is exposed to.…”