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Hundreds of millions of migrants from rural China circulate between their home villages and host cities. While existing research tends to focus on the question of permanent settlement in cities, the phenomenon of circularity which has prevailed for decades is not well understood. For example, how often do migrants return, how long do they stay before migrating again, and whether and how these behaviors have changed over time, are seldom studied. Drawing from the longitudinal migration histories of 530 rural migrants from six villages in Anhui Province and using multi-level Poisson regression models, this paper examines how rural-urban circularity has changed since the 1980s. We found that migrants who first left for migrant work in the 2000s spent less time in the home location when they return, compared to those who first left in earlier decades. Male migrants return less frequently than female migrants; and younger migrants return less than older migrants. Migrants who have had high-school education, and who have young children, a spouse, and a high-quality house at the home location tend to return more frequently and spend more time when they return than other migrants. Women’s circularity is more sensitive to the number of dependent children and the decade of first out-migration than men; and men’s circularity is more sensitive to education level and generation than women. Our findings underscore circularity as a fundamental attribute of rural-urban migration in China, identifies the gender and generational differences in circularity, and highlights the social and household ties that sustain migrants’ motivation to return/circulate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in the probability of work abroad, where the returns to schooling are higher than at home, induces more individuals in a developing country to acquire education, which leads to an increase in the supply of educated workers in the domestic labor market. Where there is a sticky wage rate, the demand for labor at home will be constant. With a rising supply and constant demand, the rate of unemployment of educated workers in the domestic labor market will increase. Thus, the prospect of employment abroad causes involuntary 'educated unemployment' at home. A government that is concerned about 'educated unemployment' and might therefore be expected to encourage unemployed educated people to migrate will nevertheless, under certain conditions, elect to restrict the extent of the migration of educated individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a paper which explores on Han-Uyghur inequality through the comparison of Han and Uyghur migrants at Urumqi, Xinjiang in China. It says that base on a survey of 30 sites conducted in 2008, it is crucial to consider the role of self-initiated migration. It states that through the analyses of migration characteristics, findings show that Uyghur migrants do not seem disfavored compared to Han migrants. Moreover, heterogeneity of Urumqi's labor market is also investigated.

The pursuit of migration is an extreme example of the severing of ties with, or a distancing from, one's friends and home. The ‘failure’ of migrants to assimilate cannot plausibly be attributed merely to an urge to stay close to their friends, or they might not have migrated to begin with. Non-assimilation arises from a fear of enhanced relative deprivation if they reduce their distance from the natives as a reference group. Fundamentally, migration is a change of those with whom people associate. But it would be wrong to infer that a change of associates crowds out a change of behavior, given the associates. Through their actions, migrants can elect to associate more with some groups, less with others. However, when actions to keep in check the weight accorded to the rich natives as a reference group are not viable, the very choice of migration destination could be affected in an unexpected way: a country that is not so rich could be preferable to a country that is rich; migrants will protect themselves from an unfavorable comparison by not migrating to where the comparison, when unavoidable, would be highly unfavorable. Relatedly, the variance in the assimilation effort of migrants across host countries could arise from the variance in the income distance with the natives: the richer the natives, the weaker the effort to assimilate, other things held the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine urban — rural return migration in China. We argue that the traditional success — failure dichotomy approach used for analyzing return migration is inadequate and that it must be expanded to address better the institutional context of the transitional economy. Using an empirical study of Sichuan and Anhui provinces, we analyze the selectivity of return migrants and their reasons for return, focusing not only on how returnees compare with continuing migrants, but also on their decisionmaking. The analysis indicates that returnees are negatively selected among migrants and suggests that failure migrants are more prevalent than are typically portrayed in the literature. The results also highlight family demand as an important reason for return. These findings suggest that migrants' institutional and social inferiority in the city undermines their likelihood to succeed in the destination and reinforces their desire to return when family needs arise. Our analysis raises questions about the optimism of existing studies about the contribution of return migrants in China's countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines interprovincial migration in China. The rapid surge of migration has been one of the most profound changes in China over the past two decades. Despite the proliferation of research on this phenomenon, most studies use a descriptive approach and as such are limited in their theoretical contribution. Over time, the effect of regional disparity has increased, while that of distance decreased. Findings suggest that models based on experiences of countries lacking migration control are increasingly relevant for China.

Examines migration and labor market returns in urban China. Argument on labor-market returns; Examination on the variations in income and benefits returns among nonmigrant urban residents, permanent migrants who possess urban residence and temporary migrants; Conclusion.

The peculiar features of Chinas socialist transitional economy, including the coexistence of "plan" and "nonplan" mechanisms, the hukou institution, uneven spatial development, and gendered constraints and opportunities, have brought about a high degree of heterogeneity among population movements. Using the 1990 Census data on reasons for migration, and an empirical analysis of both national patterns and migration in Guangdong, I document the socioeconomic characteristics and spatial patterns of major types of migration, focusing on migration for employment in industry and business, male migration due to job transfer, and female marriage migration. I argue that the multitude of migration types, and the contrasts among them, are products of the combination of state-planning and market mechanisms. The findings highlight institutional explanations for migration, and show that the "plan"-"nonplan" dichotomy is more meaningful than the economic-social dichotomy for understanding population movements in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]