Tag Archives: Migrants

Across the institutional passage of migration: the hukou system in China

China has experienced more than two decades of rapid urbanization.  Migration from the countryside into cities has been the main driver of urban growth. Rural-urban migration is thus playing an increasingly important role in shaping the economic and demographic landscape of Chinese cities.

The hukou system in China is a household registration system that functions as a domestic passport system to regulate the migration of people, especially from rural to urban areas, and from small cities to large cities. Few other institutions have played a more important role than the hukousystem in defining and prescribing the conditions of social life, politics, and economic development in China.

Luo, Rumin. “Across the institutional passage of migration : Hukou system in China”. InterDisciplines : journal of history and sociology, 2012, 3(1), 120-147.  Full text available online.

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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Hukou and consumption heterogeneity

Chen, Binkai; Lu, Ming; Zhong, Ninghua

In: Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series, February 2012

Abstract
This paper provides a new explanation for China’s extremely low consumption-to-GDP
ratio, highlighting the constraints of the “household registration system” (Hukou) on
China’s household consumption. Our baseline results show that the consumption of
migrants without an urban Hukou is 30.7% lower than that of urban residents. Moreover,
consumption heterogeneity cannot be explained by migration effects, culture, social norms,
habits or some other forms of household heterogeneity. Further studies on the composition
of household consumption have shown that the gaps are largest in areas such as education
and culture, durable goods and health. As both the number and income level of migrants
are rising, the constraining effects of Hukou on household consumption will continue to
increase.

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Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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