Labor Mobility Barriers Across Regions in China:Measurement Methods,Evolution Trends and Determinants
The unfettered mobility of labor is fundamental to optimizing resource allocation efficiency and fostering sustain-able economic development.However,barriers to labor mobility create market segmentation,significantly impeding the forma-tion of a unified domestic market and restraining the high-quality growth of China's economy.Breaking down the barriers to labor mobility across regions has become an important goal in promoting China's economic development.In this context,this study systematically explores the measurement methods,evolutionary trends,and determinants of inter-regional labor mobility barriers in China from a macro perspective.It holds significant theoretical and practical implications for dismantling labor mar-ket segmentation,constructing a national unified market,and facilitating the domestic circulation.This paper employs a migration-selection model and establishes a theoretical relationship between the scale of labor mo-bility and the barriers within the theoretical framework.Leveraging this theoretical linkage,we introduce a novel method for measuring inter-regional labor mobility barriers.Using data from China's national censuses and sample surveys from 1990 to 2015,this study offers the first macro-level quantification of China's inter-regional labor mobility barriers and systematically analyzes their evolving trends,regional disparities,and individual heterogeneities.This analysis facilitates an accurate compre-hension of the fundamental characteristics of inter-regional labor mobility barriers in China.The results reveal a persistent rapid decline in China's inter-regional labor mobility barriers,albeit with significant re-gional disparities.The eastern region experiences a more substantial reduction in mobility barriers compared to other areas,whereas the northeastern region exhibits relatively high barriers.Regarding heterogeneity,notable group differences in labor mobility barriers are observed across age,gender,and educational attainment,with older individuals,females,and those with lower educational levels facing higher barriers.Moreover,the paper conducts sensitivity analysis on the applicability of the theoretical framework and the robustness of the measurement method.The findings confirm that the main research conclu-sions remain valid under various theoretical scenarios and robustness checks of the measurement approach.Building upon the push-pull theory,this paper further categorizes the barriers to labor mobility into natural barriers and institutional barriers,delving into their evolutionary trends and distribution characteristics within the context of labor mobility.The findings indicate that while both natural and institutional barriers exhibit a downward trend,the decline in natural barri-ers,attributed to the progressive improvement in infrastructure,significantly outpaces that of institutional barriers,thus serving as the primary driver for the reduction in inter-regional labor mobility barriers in China.However,institutional barriers remain the biggest obstacle to inter-regional labor mobility in China.Furthermore,this study dissects institutional barriers into outflow area effects,inflow area effects,and discrimination effects,to further investigate the determinants of institutional barriers to la-bor mobility.The results reveal that the outflow area effects and discrimination effects are roughly equivalent,yet the institu-tional barriers arising from inflow area effects constitute more than half of the total institutional barriers,indicating that the in-stitutional barriers imposed by the inflow areas are a major reason for the persistent inter-regional labor mobility barriers in China.Overall,under the impetus of large-scale infrastructure construction and the Hukou system reform,barriers to labor mobil-ity have significantly decreased in recent years.However,institutional barriers centered around the Hukou system remain a ma-jor component of labor mobility barriers.From a policy perspective,breaking down mobility barriers,continually easing household registration restrictions,and enhancing the provision of public goods,educational resources,healthcare,and social services to migrant workers are critical directions to further reduce labor mobility barriers and are pivotal in mitigating labor market segmentation and constructing a new pattern of development.This paper contributes to the existing literature in three aspects.Firstly,it introduces a novel method to quantify regional labor mobility barriers,laying an important methodological foundation for further research.Secondly,utilizing data from China's national censuses and sample surveys from 1990 to 2015,this study calculates inter-regional labor mobility barriers in China,providing fresh insights for the existing research on labor mobility and important implications for future studies.Thirdly,by decomposing labor mobility barriers into natural and institutional barriers based on the push-pull theory,this paper offers an in-depth exploration of the significance of these two factors in inter-regional labor mobility barriers,aiming to pro-vide vital policy references for addressing inter-regional labor market segmentation and facilitating the domestic circulation.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
