The impacts of city-specific factors on social integration of Chinese migrant workers: A study using multilevel modeling

Abstract

Rural migrants in China often face obstacles that prevent them from integrating economically and socially into their host cities. We explore the effects of host city-specific factors on the social integration of migrant workers in this article. To do this, we use a survey data set that includes a sample of migrants in nine cities in eastern and central China. We estimate a multilevel linear model (MLM), taking into account both individual and city characteristics; in the first place, we show that female, highly educated migrants who accompany their family members to new host cities are most easily integrated into local society. Regarding city-specific factors, individuals who move into urban areas within their own provinces where the dialect is similar and there is a relatively small existing rural migrant population tend to more easily integrate. We show that the economic conditions of a host city can exert both positive and negative effects on social integration.The social integration of rural migrants into host cities has become an urbanization challenge in China over the last 10 years. Data show that there were 169.3 million such rural migrants nationally in 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2016); this has become an issue because internal migrants who are mostly from rural areas often have to endure disadvantaged and marginalized social positions in their host cities, disproportionate to their enormous contributions to burgeoning urban economies (K. H. Zhang & Song, 2003). Rural-urban migrant workers usually accept so-called 3D jobs-that is, jobs that are dirty, dangerous, and demeaning (Meng, 2012)-in order to have a reasonable quality of life, settle down, and integrate economically and socially into urban society (Y. Zhu, 2007).The problem of social integration has attracted attention from policymakers and researchers in recent years (Li, 2006;Wang & Fan, 2012;Yue, Li, & Feldman, 2016). In this context, literature and policy debates have often focused on the incompatibility of individual characteristics usually possessed by migrants with urban economies (Y. Zhu & Chen, 2010), including narrow social networks (Yue, Li, Jin, & Feldman, 2013) and their limited social participation in neighborhoods (Wu, 2012), as well as wide institutional restrictions such as the national household registration (hukou) system (Chan, 2010). In addition to these factors, host city characteristics are important in this context because these will shape a migration experience (Brettell, 2003;Massey, 1990). These features have, however, to date not been fully addressed in the literature. The goal of this article is therefore to explore the contextual effects of socioeconomic conditions, demographic composition, institutions, and the culture of host cities on the integration of migrants. This is achieved via a multilevel modeling methodology that enables us to incorporate both individual and city-specific CONTACT Ming Tian

How do city-specific factors affect migrant integration in China? A study based on a hierarchical linear model of migrants and cities

“…This paper partially confirms previous results indicating that the per capita GDP and housing costs of a receiving city negatively affect migrant integration [ 9 ]. We find that housing prices negatively affect migrant integration, that per capita GDP has no significant effect based on national survey data, and that a city’s wage level has a positive effect on migrant integration.…”

“…Fourth, the geographical paradigm addresses the impact of city-specific factors on the integration of Chinese migrant workers. The roles of dialect, city size, employment opportunities and education in receiving cities have been evaluated [ 9 ]. Generally, both migrant factors and unique macroinstitutional environmental or microcity features have an important impact on migrant integration.…”

“…In addition to these factors, the characteristics of the receiving city are also important in this context because they are antecedent conditions for migrants [7]. However, these relevant findings default to the premise that the locations within which migrants try to integrate are almost uniform [8][9][10]. The cities' features have not been fully addressed in the literature.…”

Housing property rights and social integration of migrant population: based on the 2017 china migrants' dynamic survey

“…Among the studies on the social integration of China's migrants, Tian et al (2019) also reckoned that the specific city factor could affect the status of urban destination. Zheng et al (2020) studied and discovered that the migrants lived in the economically affordable housing showed higher social integration level than those migrants lived in other types of housing.…”

Rural land reforms and villagers' preferences for urban settlement: A case study of Shandong Province, China

“…Current studies have found that female migrants in cities are more likely to choose to settle down. Younger people, who have fewer family commitments, less attachment to the countryside but a greater desire for urban lifestyle, are more willing to move to and settle in cities than their older counterparts (Guan, Wei, Lu, Dai, & Su, 2018;Huang, Guo, & Cheng, 2018;Liu, Deng, & Song, 2018;Mohabir et al, 2017;Tang, Hao, & Huang, 2016;Tian, Tian, & Sun, 2019;Zhang, Druijven, & Strijker, 2017;Zhu & Chen, 2010). Besides, compared to older generations, younger rural migrants tend to be less willing to live in towns compared with cities (Tang & Feng, 2015).…”