Toward Job or Amenity?: Evaluating the Locational Choice of Internal Migrants in China

Abstract

This study provides new evidence on the debate of job opportunities versus urban amenities in determining the locational choice of migrants. We employ a conditional logit model to generate credible estimates, using two large representative data sets on China’s internal migrants. Our findings confirm that both job opportunities and amenities play consistent and salient roles in the geographical choice of internal migrants, while highly skilled migrants tend to attach more importance to urban amenities. Additionally, China’s household registration system seems to play an undeniable role: migrants are increasingly shunning cities providing better quality public services that are still largely inaccessible to temporary migrants in China.