The title investigates rural labor mobility in China since 2003, an important phenomenon in the process of Chinese economic transition, influential in economic growth at the macro level and individual wellbeing at the micro level. Based on empirical analysis, the study identifies and evaluates the characteristics, driving forces and impact of the migration and mobility of the rural labor force. The following factors are considered to impact rural workers' mobility decisions and are thoroughly discussed in each chapter: (1) convergence in the level of regional income, (2) industrial structure and the age structure of the workforce, (3) the household registration system, (4) the income gap, (5) the issue of children that are left behind, (6) the health status of rural migrant workers and (7) their social networks. Drawing on new research methods, the final chapter reassesses the impact of rural parents' migration to the city and the overall wellbeing of their children left behind at home, challenging the well-accepted view that there is a negative correlation between the two. The book will appeal to scholars and students interested in labor economics, Chinese economy, sociology, demography, migrant population and especially labor mobility in China.

Migration presents a stark policy dilemma. Research repeatedly confirms that migrants, their families back home, and the countries that welcome them experience large economic and social gains. Easing immigration restrictions is one of the most effective tools for ending poverty and sharing prosperity across the globe. Yet, we see widespread opposition in destination countries, where migrants are depicted as the primary cause of many of their economic problems, from high unemployment to declining social services. Moving for Prosperity: Global Migration and Labor Markets addresses this dilemma. In addition to providing comprehensive data and empirical analysis of migration patterns and their impact, the report argues for a series of policies that work with, rather than against, labor market forces. Policy makers should aim to ease short-run dislocations and adjustment costs so that the substantial long-term benefits are shared more evenly. Only then can we avoid draconian migration restrictions that will hurt everybody. Moving for Prosperity aims to inform and stimulate policy debate, facilitate further research, and identify prominent knowledge gaps. It demonstrates why existing income gaps, demographic differences, and rapidly declining transportation costs mean that global mobility will continue to be a key feature of our lives for generations to come. Its audience includes anyone interested in one of the most controversial policy debates of our time.

One of the primary objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), established in 2015, was to boost skilled labor mobility within the region. This insightful book takes stock of the existing trends and patterns of skilled labor migration in the ASEAN. It endeavors to identify the likely winners and losers from the free movement of natural persons within the region through counterfactual policy simulations. Finally, it discusses existing issues and obstacles through case studies, as well as other sectoral examples.

This book presents a comprehensive review of cross-border labor mobility from the ancient forms of slavery to the present day. The book covers African and Amerindian slaveries, indentured servitude of the Indians and the Chinese, guestworker programs, and contemporary labor migration focusing on the United States, the European Union, and the Gulf Region. The book highlights the economics and politics that condition such trends and patterns by addressing growing anti-immigrant sentiments, as well as restrictive measures in the developed world, and outlines inexorable forces that are likely to propel further expansion of cross-border mobility in the future. This multidisciplinary volume provides a highly dependable scholarly reference to researchers, students, academics as well as policy makers.

This book is a multi-faceted, comprehensive and timely study of the millions of migrants in China, their experiences, and their impacts on the city and the countryside.

In the last 30 years, China’s record economic growth lifted half a billion people out of poverty, with rapid urbanization providing abundant labor, cheap land, and good infrastructure. While China has avoided some of the common ills of urbanization, strains are showing as inefficient land development leads to urban sprawl and ghost towns, pollution threatens people’s health, and farmland and water resources are becoming scarce. With China’s urban population projected to rise to about one billion – or close to 70 percent of the country’s population – by 2030, China’s leaders are seeking a more coordinated urbanization process. Urban China is a joint research report by a team from the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China’s State Council which was established to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization in China and to help China forge a new model of urbanization. The report takes as its point of departure the conviction that China's urbanization can become more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable. However, it stresses that achieving this vision will require strong support from both government and the markets for policy reforms in a number of area. The report proposes six main areas for reform: first, amending land management institutions to foster more efficient land use, denser cities, modernized agriculture, and more equitable wealth distribution; second, adjusting the hukou household registration system to increase labor mobility and provide urban migrant workers equal access to a common standard of public services; third, placing urban finances on a more sustainable footing while fostering financial discipline among local governments; fourth, improving urban planning to enhance connectivity and encourage scale and agglomeration economies; fifth, reducing environmental pressures through more efficient resource management; and sixth, improving governance at the local level.

This book offers a systematic analysis of the impact of work organization on the social stratification of individuals in urban China. It explains why economic and labor market segmentation is possible and necessary in state socialism at a certain stage of its development, as in market capitalism, and how important one's work unit or danwei is to the life of socialist workers in Chinese cities. Based on survey data, personal interviews, and official statistics, the author shows that structural allocation, status inheritance, educational achievement, political virtue, and interpersonal connections (guanxi) interplay in determining an individual's opportunities for entering and moving into a desirable place to work, for obtaining Communist party membership and an elite class status, and for receiving material compensation such as wages, bonuses, fringe benefits, housing, and home locations.