Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China

Genghe Gao; Yali Deng; Yidan Yuan; Weili Zhang; Jiaqi Zhang; Menghan Jin

doi:doi:10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China

Genghe Gao, Yali Deng, Yidan Yuan, Weili Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, Menghan Jin

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 29 June 2021 Accepted: 21 July 2021 Published: 27 July 2021

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Abstract

The return of migrant workers is an important trend in labor mobility in China. The location of the return determines the direction of the flow and affects the choice of settlement. Based on first-hand data from a field survey, statistical analysis and binary logistic analysis methods are used to analyze the location characteristics and influencing factors of the return flow. The study found that (1) returning to the county is the basic spatial feature of the return of migrant workers. Most workers return to villages and counties outside the township. Before returning, most worked in other cities and counties. Counties and small towns near the village have become the main sites for migrant workers’ return to employment. Although the general trend of rural-urban migration has not changed, the intensity has declined to a certain extent. (2) The main reason for return is to take care of the family, followed by old age, difficulty finding a job, low wages and high costs, poor health, etc. In addition, hometown employment conditions have an impact. The push from other places and the local pull work together on migrant workers, eventually producing a return pattern. (3) Most return flow has occurred in the last 5 years, and it has been intensifying. Return flow and outflow are the two basic forms of labor mobility. Under normal circumstances, migrant workers choose to return when they cannot obtain a higher income or cannot find a job. It is foreseeable that as the county-level economy continues to develop, the trend of return will continue to strengthen. (4) Factors such as years of education, skills, working years, number of work sites, family generation, distance from the city, and relative position in the village reached significance in the regression model for the choice to return to the county. Only the family generation coefficient was negative, and the other coefficients were positive. Employment and income and taking care of the family are the main mechanisms influencing migrant workers' return location selection.

Published in	Earth Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
Page(s)	145-156
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Return, Location, Migrant Workers, Nonpermanent Migration

References

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[2]	National Bureau of Statistics of China (2018). Migrant workers monitoring report: 2017 Migrant workers monitoring survey report. 2018-04-27. http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201804/t20180427_1596389.html
[3]	Bogue D J. Internal migration (1959) [M]//Hauser D, The study of population: An inventory appraisal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[4]	Lee E S, A theory of migration (1966) [J]. Demography, 3 (1): 47-57.
[5]	Todaro M P (1976). Urban job expansion, induced migration and rising unemployment: A formulation and simplified empirical test for LDCs [J]. Journal of Development Economics, 3 (3): 211-225.
[6]	Cassarino J P (2004). Theorizing return migration: The conceptual approach to return migrants revisited [J]. Social Science Electronic Publishing, 6 (2): 21-54.
[7]	Lewis J R, Williams A W (1986). The economic impact of return migration in central Portugal [M]//King R. Return migration & regional economic problems. London: Croom Helm, 100-128.
[8]	Piore M J (1979). Birds of passage: Migrant labor and industrial societies [M]. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[9]	Zhao Liang, Zhang Shiwei, Fan Lizhuang (2009). Analysis of the return of migrant workers in the financial crisis environment [J]. Jiangxi Social Sciences, (8): 227-229.
[10]	Xiao Donghua, Yao Huiyuan (2010). Research on the return of migrant workers in the new era [J]. Reform and Strategy, 26 (1): 165-169.
[11]	Liu Zheng (2006). The reality paradox of the unlimited supply of labor——Analysis of the causes and effects of "migrant workers returning" [J]. Journal of Tsinghua University: Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition, (3): 125-129.
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[16]	Shi Zhilei, Zhu Mingbao (2017). Research on social protection and citizenization of migrant workers [J]. Issues of Agricultural Economics, (11): 77-89.
[17]	Gao Genghe, Zeng Wenfeng, Liu Mingyue (2017). The location of inter-provincial migration of migrant workers and their influencing factors: A case study of 12 villages in Henan Province of China [J]. Economic Geography, 37 (6): 151-155.
[18]	Zhang Tian, Zhu Yu, Lin Liyue (2017). Returning migrant workers' residential location selection under the background of in-situ urbanization——Taking Yongcheng City, Henan Province of China as an example [J]. Economic Geography, (4): 84-91.
[19]	Hu Feng, Shi Yupeng (2013). The selectivity of migrant workers' return and non-agricultural employment: Evidence from Hubei of China [J]. Journal of Demography, 35 (2): 71-80.
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[22]	Dustmann C (2003). Children and return migration [J]. Journal of Population Economics, 16 (4): 815-830.

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Genghe Gao, Yali Deng, Yidan Yuan, Weili Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, et al. (2021). Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sciences, 10(4), 145-156. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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ACS Style

Genghe Gao; Yali Deng; Yidan Yuan; Weili Zhang; Jiaqi Zhang, et al. Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sci. 2021, 10(4), 145-156. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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AMA Style

Genghe Gao, Yali Deng, Yidan Yuan, Weili Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, et al. Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sci. 2021;10(4):145-156. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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@article{10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11,
  author = {Genghe Gao and Yali Deng and Yidan Yuan and Weili Zhang and Jiaqi Zhang and Menghan Jin},
  title = {Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {145-156},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20211004.11},
  abstract = {The return of migrant workers is an important trend in labor mobility in China. The location of the return determines the direction of the flow and affects the choice of settlement. Based on first-hand data from a field survey, statistical analysis and binary logistic analysis methods are used to analyze the location characteristics and influencing factors of the return flow. The study found that (1) returning to the county is the basic spatial feature of the return of migrant workers. Most workers return to villages and counties outside the township. Before returning, most worked in other cities and counties. Counties and small towns near the village have become the main sites for migrant workers’ return to employment. Although the general trend of rural-urban migration has not changed, the intensity has declined to a certain extent. (2) The main reason for return is to take care of the family, followed by old age, difficulty finding a job, low wages and high costs, poor health, etc. In addition, hometown employment conditions have an impact. The push from other places and the local pull work together on migrant workers, eventually producing a return pattern. (3) Most return flow has occurred in the last 5 years, and it has been intensifying. Return flow and outflow are the two basic forms of labor mobility. Under normal circumstances, migrant workers choose to return when they cannot obtain a higher income or cannot find a job. It is foreseeable that as the county-level economy continues to develop, the trend of return will continue to strengthen. (4) Factors such as years of education, skills, working years, number of work sites, family generation, distance from the city, and relative position in the village reached significance in the regression model for the choice to return to the county. Only the family generation coefficient was negative, and the other coefficients were positive. Employment and income and taking care of the family are the main mechanisms influencing migrant workers' return location selection.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China
AU  - Genghe Gao
AU  - Yali Deng
AU  - Yidan Yuan
AU  - Weili Zhang
AU  - Jiaqi Zhang
AU  - Menghan Jin
Y1  - 2021/07/27
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
T2  - Earth Sciences
JF  - Earth Sciences
JO  - Earth Sciences
SP  - 145
EP  - 156
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5982
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
AB  - The return of migrant workers is an important trend in labor mobility in China. The location of the return determines the direction of the flow and affects the choice of settlement. Based on first-hand data from a field survey, statistical analysis and binary logistic analysis methods are used to analyze the location characteristics and influencing factors of the return flow. The study found that (1) returning to the county is the basic spatial feature of the return of migrant workers. Most workers return to villages and counties outside the township. Before returning, most worked in other cities and counties. Counties and small towns near the village have become the main sites for migrant workers’ return to employment. Although the general trend of rural-urban migration has not changed, the intensity has declined to a certain extent. (2) The main reason for return is to take care of the family, followed by old age, difficulty finding a job, low wages and high costs, poor health, etc. In addition, hometown employment conditions have an impact. The push from other places and the local pull work together on migrant workers, eventually producing a return pattern. (3) Most return flow has occurred in the last 5 years, and it has been intensifying. Return flow and outflow are the two basic forms of labor mobility. Under normal circumstances, migrant workers choose to return when they cannot obtain a higher income or cannot find a job. It is foreseeable that as the county-level economy continues to develop, the trend of return will continue to strengthen. (4) Factors such as years of education, skills, working years, number of work sites, family generation, distance from the city, and relative position in the village reached significance in the regression model for the choice to return to the county. Only the family generation coefficient was negative, and the other coefficients were positive. Employment and income and taking care of the family are the main mechanisms influencing migrant workers' return location selection.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Genghe Gao

College of Resources and Environment, Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou, China
Yali Deng

College of Resources and Environment, Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou, China
Yidan Yuan

College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
Weili Zhang

College of Resources and Environment, Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou, China
Jiaqi Zhang

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Bengbu, China
Menghan Jin

College of Resources and Environment, Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou, China

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APA Style

Genghe Gao, Yali Deng, Yidan Yuan, Weili Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, et al. (2021). Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sciences, 10(4), 145-156. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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ACS Style

Genghe Gao; Yali Deng; Yidan Yuan; Weili Zhang; Jiaqi Zhang, et al. Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sci. 2021, 10(4), 145-156. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

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AMA Style

Genghe Gao, Yali Deng, Yidan Yuan, Weili Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, et al. Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China. Earth Sci. 2021;10(4):145-156. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11,
  author = {Genghe Gao and Yali Deng and Yidan Yuan and Weili Zhang and Jiaqi Zhang and Menghan Jin},
  title = {Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {145-156},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20211004.11},
  abstract = {The return of migrant workers is an important trend in labor mobility in China. The location of the return determines the direction of the flow and affects the choice of settlement. Based on first-hand data from a field survey, statistical analysis and binary logistic analysis methods are used to analyze the location characteristics and influencing factors of the return flow. The study found that (1) returning to the county is the basic spatial feature of the return of migrant workers. Most workers return to villages and counties outside the township. Before returning, most worked in other cities and counties. Counties and small towns near the village have become the main sites for migrant workers’ return to employment. Although the general trend of rural-urban migration has not changed, the intensity has declined to a certain extent. (2) The main reason for return is to take care of the family, followed by old age, difficulty finding a job, low wages and high costs, poor health, etc. In addition, hometown employment conditions have an impact. The push from other places and the local pull work together on migrant workers, eventually producing a return pattern. (3) Most return flow has occurred in the last 5 years, and it has been intensifying. Return flow and outflow are the two basic forms of labor mobility. Under normal circumstances, migrant workers choose to return when they cannot obtain a higher income or cannot find a job. It is foreseeable that as the county-level economy continues to develop, the trend of return will continue to strengthen. (4) Factors such as years of education, skills, working years, number of work sites, family generation, distance from the city, and relative position in the village reached significance in the regression model for the choice to return to the county. Only the family generation coefficient was negative, and the other coefficients were positive. Employment and income and taking care of the family are the main mechanisms influencing migrant workers' return location selection.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Return Location of Migrant Workers: A Case Study of 14 Sample Villages in Henan Province, China
AU  - Genghe Gao
AU  - Yali Deng
AU  - Yidan Yuan
AU  - Weili Zhang
AU  - Jiaqi Zhang
AU  - Menghan Jin
Y1  - 2021/07/27
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
T2  - Earth Sciences
JF  - Earth Sciences
JO  - Earth Sciences
SP  - 145
EP  - 156
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5982
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20211004.11
AB  - The return of migrant workers is an important trend in labor mobility in China. The location of the return determines the direction of the flow and affects the choice of settlement. Based on first-hand data from a field survey, statistical analysis and binary logistic analysis methods are used to analyze the location characteristics and influencing factors of the return flow. The study found that (1) returning to the county is the basic spatial feature of the return of migrant workers. Most workers return to villages and counties outside the township. Before returning, most worked in other cities and counties. Counties and small towns near the village have become the main sites for migrant workers’ return to employment. Although the general trend of rural-urban migration has not changed, the intensity has declined to a certain extent. (2) The main reason for return is to take care of the family, followed by old age, difficulty finding a job, low wages and high costs, poor health, etc. In addition, hometown employment conditions have an impact. The push from other places and the local pull work together on migrant workers, eventually producing a return pattern. (3) Most return flow has occurred in the last 5 years, and it has been intensifying. Return flow and outflow are the two basic forms of labor mobility. Under normal circumstances, migrant workers choose to return when they cannot obtain a higher income or cannot find a job. It is foreseeable that as the county-level economy continues to develop, the trend of return will continue to strengthen. (4) Factors such as years of education, skills, working years, number of work sites, family generation, distance from the city, and relative position in the village reached significance in the regression model for the choice to return to the county. Only the family generation coefficient was negative, and the other coefficients were positive. Employment and income and taking care of the family are the main mechanisms influencing migrant workers' return location selection.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download