Household Demographic Heterogeneity and Migration Consequences to Household Economic Outcome in Rural China

Using 1997-2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) house level data and fixed effect models, we examined how migration has affected the household economic status from both absolute net income and relative rank within community. We first examine whether migration has positive or negative effect on the household economy and how this has been changed over time. We then examined whether the influences could be mediated by who left-behind and whether it is conditional on household human capital stock and land. We found that migration has negative consequences on household net income and relative economic status and it became particularly true in more recent years. The influence of men migrant is larger than women. In contrast, more stay-at-home labor ages people, especially men, can compensate the loss by migration. However, the influence is differed by household human capital stock and land holding. The harmful effect of migration on household economy is more salient when household average human capital is higher.