Economic Development and Social Integration of Migrants in China

• Published date: 01 January 2024
• Author: Guangjun Shen,Chuanchuan Zhang
• Date: 01 January 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12514

©2024 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

China & World Economy / 1–20, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2024

1

Economic Development and Social Integration of

Migrants in China

Guangjun Shen, Chuanchuan Zhang*

Abstract

Migrants often face challenges in social integration. Using a nationally representative

sample of migrant workers and employing the epidemiological approach, this paper

examines the determinants of social integration. It finds that, conditional on a set of

individual features, the migrants from less-developed provinces have greater difficulty

in integrating into local communities. These results still demonstrate robustness across

alternative variables, samples, and various specifications. Mechanism analysis shows

that educational and employment factors account for over 40 percent of the variance

in social integration levels, suggesting their significant influence. Additionally, the

analysis suggests that native bias against migrants, along with misunderstandings

between them, may account for part of the remaining variation in social integration

levels. Importantly, the ability to speak local dialects has been identified as a crucial

factor that can significantly improve migrants’ subjective experience of integrating into

a new city. By identifying one specific cause of social integration, this paper provides

information to individuals and governments and assists them to improve social

integration.

Keywords: economic development, epidemiologic approach, migrant, social integration

JEL codes: I31, J61, J71, Z10

I. Introduction

Social integration, defined as the process through which newcomers or minorities

become part of the social structure of the host society, represents a major dimensions

of experiences of newcomers within the society that receives them (Orum and Chen,

2003; Park and Burgess, 2019). Social development benefits from social integration

because social integration contributes to reduced social distance, improves social

*Guangjun Shen, Associate Professor, Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University, China. Email: shengj6@

mail.sysu.edu.cn; Chuanchuan Zhang (corresponding author), School of Economics and Institute for Fiscal

Big Data and Policy, Zhejiang University, China. Email: ccz.zhang@gmail.com. The authors are grateful for

support from the Research Program of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education of China

(No. 22YJA790083).

© 2024 The Author(s). China & World Economy published by John Wiley & Sons Australia,

Ltd on behalf of Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License,

which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited,

the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

[Correction added on 10 February 2025, after first online publication: The copyright line was changed.]

Guangjun Shen, Chuanchuan Zhang / 1–20, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2024

©2024 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

2

trust, and eliminates segregation. Social integration also reduces the welfare gap and

social conflicts among residents with different identities, which helps to promote

the urbanization process and economic growth by accelerating capital accumulation

in urban sectors (Liu et al., 2010). It is therefore important to understand social

integration.

Social integration is an important topic in China. The Seventh National Population

Census shows that there were 376 million migrant workers in China in 2020. The

migrants accounted for over 70 percent of the total population in cities such as Shenzhen

and Dongguan, and the size of the migrant population in Shenzhen and Shanghai

exceeded 10 million in 2020. However, China is vast in territory and its population is

ODUJHVRWKHUHDUHVLJQL¿FDQWGL൵HUHQFHVLQFXOWXUHOLIHVW\OHVRFLDOQRUPVDQGHFRQRPLF

development across regions. As a result, misunderstandings and bias arise and hinder

social integration to some extent.

Using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), this paper explores

the determinants of social integration in China from the perspective of economic

development. The migrant workers who work outside their home towns are the main

beneficiaries of social integration. Otherwise, they would be at a disadvantage in

employment, income, social security, and many other aspects (Wang et al., 2009).

Using data on the migrants also makes it possible for us to use the epidemiological

DSSURDFKZKLFKFRXOG VHSDUDWHWKHH൵HFWRI WKHPLJUDQWV¶KRPHWRZQVIURP WKHH൵HFW

of the cities in which they currently live.

We find evidence that the “birthplace effect,” i.e., the economic development

RIWKH PLJUDQWV¶KRPHWRZQV KDVSRVLWLYH HIIHFWVRQ WKHLUVRFLDO LQWHJUDWLRQLQ WKH

cities in which they currently live. In other words, the migrants from provinces with

lower per capita GDP have greater difficulty integrating into local communities.

They also earn significantly less than their counterparts from provinces with higher

*'3SHU FDSLWD7KLVPHDQV WKDW HFRQRPLFGHYHORSPHQW LQWKH PLJUDQWV¶KRPHWRZQV

D൵HFWV VRFLDO LQWHJUDWLRQ:HXVHDOWHUQDWLYH GH¿QLWLRQVRI NH\YDULDEOHV DQGYDULRXV

subsamples to implement robustness checks and exclude some competing hypotheses.

Although education and employment account for a considerable proportion of the

gaps in social integration and wages between migrants from different provinces,

nearly 60 percent of these gaps cannot be explained by observable individual and

household characteristics. To accelerate social integration, the migrants should

be capable of understanding and speaking the dialects of their current cities of

residence.

This study is related to three strands of literature. First, it enriches economic

theory about internal migration. In China, internal migration, especially

© 2024 The Author(s). China & World Economy published by John Wiley & Sons Australia,

Ltd on behalf of Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License,

which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited,

the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.