Abstract
This chapter estimates the effect of individual and regional attributes on income and job prestige using an original data set containing detailed working histories of approximately 2,300 temporary rural-to-urban migrants. Migrant worker job transitions are examined through time, as well as associated changes in prestige scores. An augmented Mincer model is utilized to explore the extent to which personal characteristics and job history determine earnings. Returns to education and work experience are estimated and compared with data sets on urban resident. The results highlight gender segregation in occupational structure and patterns of change, but show no overall difference in the average perceived job prestige between men and women. While the notion of local-migrant wage disparities is supported by this study, returns to work experience and education of migrants and locals were comparable. It is found that rural work experience contributes very little to migrant worker earnings. Such findings contribute to a richer understanding of an important and diverse labour force too often mischaracterized as static and homogenous.
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Wang, M.Y.L., Maino, J. (2015). How China’s “Floating Population” Floats: Recent Patterns in Migrant Workers’ Spatial Mobility and Destination Choice. In: Wong, TC., Han, S., Zhang, H. (eds) Population Mobility, Urban Planning and Management in China. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15257-8_4
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