This paper studies the role of strong versus weak ties in the rural-to-urban migration decision in China. We first develop a network model that puts forward the different roles of weak and strong ties in helping workers to migrate to the city. We then use a unique longitudinal data that allows...

Post-reform China has been experiencing two major demographic changes, an extraordinary amount of internal migration and an aging population. We present a general migration model which captures the idea that older migrants have shorter durations in the destination but possibly larger general...

This study examines the causal effects ofwelfare benefits on internal migration decisions. Using a quasi-experimentalmigration reform across 283 Chinese cities from 2002 to 2015, combined with a difference-in-differences setup, Ishowthat improvedwelfarebenefitssubstantially increasemigration....

We analyze the effect of China's integration into the world economy on workers in the country and show that one important channel of impact has been internal migration. Specifically, we study the changes in internal migration rates triggered by the reduction in trade policy uncertainty faced by...