Can labor migration alleviate the constraints of farmers' mobility? An empirical analysis from the perspective of social network

ABSTRACT

Chinese rural families are facing serious mobility constraints. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic further aggravates farmers' mobility dilemma, which seriously restricts the expansion of rural household consumption. It is of great theoretical value and practical significance to take reasonable and effective measures to alleviate farmers' mobility constraints. Based on the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2018, this article empirically examines the impact of labor migration on farmers' mobility constraints. The study finds that, labor migration significantly alleviates farmers' mobility constraints, and this basic conclusion remains robust after the definition of mobility constraints is changed, relaxing the exclusive constraints of instrumental variables and using the propensity score matching method. Further analysis shows that labor migration has a greater easing effect on the mobility constraints of farmers with low social networks, and it reduces the polarization caused by social network inequality such as clan network, endowment of parents, external identity, social and economic status gap. Heterogeneity analysis shows that labor migration has a more significant easing effect on the mobility constraints of middle-aged families, low human capital families and families in north region. This study proposes a new idea to solve the problem of farmers' mobility constraints and provides a new perspective to reduce the internal economic inequality within rural areas and a reference for the formulation of relevant policy-making.