The Effects of Education Restrictions on Rural−Urban Migration in China

In China, a huge number of workers migrate from rural areas to work in cities. Their children, though, face restrictions when seeking their compulsory education; they may be barred from enrolling in public schools or be required to pay extra fees. This paper is the first to quantify the effects of these educational barriers on the location choices of rural households who have children under compulsory education. Using data from nine provinces, which represent about 40% of China’s rural population, I estimate a household joint location choice model in which the working locations of adults and the schooling locations of children are simultaneously determined. Counterfactuals show that education restrictions have non-negligible effects. They discourage a moderate proportion of rural households from moving, and they force migrant workers to leave family members behind in their rural home towns. Elimination of these restrictions can significantly improve the efficiency of labor allocation as well as the welfare of rural households.