The impact of low‐skilled migrants on firm productivity: Evidence from hukou reform in China

Abstract

In the past, China divided its citizens into “agricultural hukou” and “non‐agricultural hukou” to limit rural–urban migration, which contributed to China's early industrialization. However, the binary household registration system no longer suits China's development, and cities in China have successively carried out hukou reforms. Based on the reforms that trigger rural–urban migration, we investigate the impact of low‐cost and low‐skilled migrant workers on firm‐level total factor productivity (TFP). We employ a staggered difference‐in‐differences (DID) strategy to show the following results: (1) The hukou reform substantially reduces the listed firms' TFP by 6.9%. (2) The hukou reform has increased the number of employees and the labor intensity, as well as reduced average employee salaries, employee responsibility, and R&D in enterprises, revealing the mechanism by which hukou reform affects firm productivity. (3) Our findings are particularly pronounced in non‐state‐owned enterprises (non‐SOEs), enterprises with more stringent financing constraints, and cities with wider rural–urban income gaps.

Geo-sustainable Practices in Urban Agriculture: A Study of Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Conservation at Household Level

“…According to 'the state if food security and nutrition in the world 2020' report the global south is experiencing unequal spread of food insecurity which is steadily increased from 1.63 billion to 2 billion from 2014 to 2019 (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, 2020). This is a hinderance in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 to "end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture" (Kong et al, 2024;Steenkamp et al, 2021). Delocalization is required to decrease food miles to prevent food insecurity globally and minimize the effects of urbanization in the developing world.…”