The Chinese Dream: Hukou, Social Mobility, and Trust in Government

Abstract

Objective Social mobility plays an important role in stabilizing the political order. This article leverages China's hukou (household registration) reforms to examine the effects of state‐engineered social mobility on individuals’ trust in the government. Methods Using China General Social Survey data for 2010 and entropy balancing for causal effects, this article provides empirical evidence for the attitudinal effects of social mobility at the individual level. Results It finds that, first, individuals with the rural‐to‐urban hukou change are more likely to experience upward mobility, while individuals with the nonlocal‐to‐local hukou change are more pessimistic about their prospects of upward mobility; second, the rural‐to‐urban hukou change increases beneficiaries’ trust in the central government, while the nonlocal‐to‐local hukou change increases beneficiaries’ trust in the local government. Conclusion The Chinese authoritarian regime's co‐optation tactic of engineering upward social mobility via the hukou reforms contributes to its performance‐based political legitimacy as it effectively bolsters individuals’ trust in government.

Leaving the Homestead: Examining the Role of Relative Deprivation, Social Trust, and Urban Integration among Rural Farmers in China

“…Such interest relationships include economic, social and psychological aspects. The interactions between farmers and urbanites, their feelings during such interactions, and the information they obtain about the society provide an important basis for building social trust [54]. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed: H6.…”

“…The model consists of three parts: The first part considers the role of relative deprivation on the willingness of farmers to withdraw from their homesteads; the second part considers the mediating role of social trust between relative deprivation and the willingness to withdraw; and the third part considers the moderating role of urban integration between relative deprivation and willingness to withdraw, also considering the moderating role of urban integration in the relationship between relative deprivation and social trust (see Figure 1). ites, their feelings during such interactions, and the information they obtain about the society provide an important basis for building social trust [54]. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed: H6.…”