Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46175 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5480
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
As their environment changes, migrants constitute an interesting group to study the effect of relative income on subjective well-being. This paper focuses on the huge population of rural-to-urban migrants in China. Using a novel dataset, we find that the well-being of migrants depends on several reference groups: it is negatively affected by the income of other migrants and workers of home regions; in contrast, we identify a positive, signal effect vis-à-vis urban workers: larger urban incomes indicate higher income prospects for the migrants. These effects are particularly strong for migrants who wish to settle permanently, decline with years since migrations and change with other characteristics including work conditions and community ties.
Subjects: 
China
relative concerns
well-being
JEL: 
C90
D63
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
386.85 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.