Can self-employment activity contribute to ascension to urban citizenship? Evidence from rural-to-urban migrant workers in China

The ascension to urban citizenship and assimilation into urban life for rural to urban migrant workers is a pressing mission during the current process of rapid urbanization in developing China. However, the issue of how self-employed migrants, who account for up to 25 percent of total migrant workers in 2009 (Meng, 2012), acquire urban citizenship remains understudied. Using a unique sample from the 2009 Rural to Urban Migrants in China (RUMiC) survey, this paper explores whether self-employment choice contributes to migrant workers' ascension to urban citizenship and integration, and uncovers the underlying mechanisms. We find that although self-employed migrants are capable of earning a higher income, and improving their living conditions, their tendency to reside permanently in the city is not significantly different from their counterparts of wage workers. We argue that self-employed migrants, who are less covered by urban social securities and are more discriminated against by current urban household registration (Hukou) system, tend to lose faith in ascension to urban citizenship. It implies that a social security system with self-employed migrants being covered as well as an urban Hukou admission system favoring diverse human capital (especially taking into account entrepreneurship) would help accelerate the urbanization process.     

农民工城市生存质量的群体差异性分析

农民工在城市的生存质量水平是该阶层在城市生活的各个方面的综合反映,本研究发现当前农民工在城市的生存质量非常低下。而在影响农民工生存质量的诸多因素中,除了外在的政治、经济、社会及文化层面的因素以外,农民工自身的性别、受教育水平、职业差异性也是造成其总体生存质量低下及内部非均衡性的重要因素,因此消除因农民工的个体因素给其带来的生存质量的影响可以通过加大非学历教育力度及提高低端行业薪资水平等方法来实现。     

Do social interactions foster household entrepreneurship? Evidence from online and offline data from China Family Panel Studies

Using China Family Panel Studies data, we analyze online and offline social interactions' influence on household entrepreneurial choice. We conclude that social interactions can positively influence household entrepreneurial choice, intensity and performance, and our findings are robust considering the possible endogeneity problem. The mechanisms of information acquisition, financing constraints relaxing and relative wealth concern are valid. In terms of heterogeneity analysis, for entrepreneurs of rural migrant backgrounds (those with agricultural hukou and urban permanent residence), the impact of online social interaction is more significant than it is for others. For households in the eastern regions, social interactions show significant positive impacts on entrepreneurship choices. We also find that the promotion effect of social interactions is more pronounced for households with a higher debt level than for those with a lower debt level.     

涉外劳务农民工返乡创业成功因素与机制探索——基于河南新县的调查和实践

农民工返乡创业在很大程度上促进了欠发达地区经济发展,但目前许多地方农民工返乡创业率还仍然较低。本文在探寻河南新县涉外劳务农民工返乡创业成功因素的基础上,构建了一个基于创业能力逐步提升的政府主导型农民工返乡创业机制,以有效提高农民工返乡创业率和创业成功率。     

从返乡到创业——互联网接入对农民工决策影响的实证分析

基于全国农村固定跟踪观察点2009-2013年的数据，文章实证检验了互联网接入与返乡农民工创业之间的关系，并从社会资本和人力资本两条路径探讨了互联网接入对返乡农民工创业的作用机制。研究发现：返乡农民工的创业意愿很低，返乡农民工中平均只有2.30%选择创业。互联网接入会显著促进返乡农民工创业，具体而言，互联网的接入概率每增加1个百分点，返乡农民工的创业概率提升0.036%。相对于东部地区的返乡农民工而言，互联网接入会显著促进西部的返乡农民工进行创业，而对中部和东北地区的返乡农民工则不存在显著的影响。机制分析结果显示，返乡农民工会通过互联网感知新的知识技能，提升人力资本而促进创业。文章主要结论在使用工具变量的稳健性分析中没有变化。因此，鼓励已返乡农民工创业，特别是强化技能培训以更好地发挥互联网对返乡农民工创业的促进作用，对成功实施乡村振兴战略至关重要。     

人力资本、歧视与农民工收入——基于浙江省问卷调查数据的实证研究

本文基于人力资本理论和歧视理论对农民工和城镇职工工资差距进行的实证研究表明,人力资本是导致农民工低收入的主要原因,其中教育对工资差距具有决定性影响;歧视对农民工收入起重要作用,其中反向歧视已成为农民工歧视的主要表现形式。实现农民工收入增长和城乡劳动者平等就业必须"两手抓",一手抓农民工人力资本提升,一手抓制度改革消除对城镇职工的保护和偏袒。     

社会网络与民工工资：来自中国的证据

 本文基于来自中国22个省的农户调查数据研究了利用的不同社会网络对于不同的民工在城市劳动力市场上的工资水平的影响,结果发现：并不是利用所有的社会网络都能够提高所有民工的工资水平。首先,只有利用亲友关系找到的工作才能够得到更高的工资;其次,即使亲友关系也不能提高利用它找到工作的所有民工的工资水平,而只能显著提高女性和已婚民工的工资水平。所以,在研究中忽略社会网络和民工的差异性会导致错误的研究结论。本文有助于帮助理解中国的劳动力流动及社会网络在劳动力市场中的作用。     

制约民族地区创业活动的因素分析

创业活动是经济增长和社会发展的原动力。文章在分析制约民族地区创业活动的主要因素的基础上,认为民族地区应通过营造鼓励创业的文化氛围、开展有针对性的创业教育和培训、制定落实相关创业支持政策、搭建有效的创业服务平台等措施促进创业活动的发展,进而促进经济发展和社会稳定。     

内地农民工返乡创业与沿海地区外力推动:一个机制框架

促进和扶持内地农民工返乡创业,是加快我国内陆地区经济发展步伐,促使城乡、地区之间协调发展的战略选择。系统的理论研究和对我国16个省份的实地调研表明,针对我国内地农民工返乡创业特点及影响因素,沿海地区应主动扶持内地农民工返乡创业,构建一个基于创业资源整合及创业环境互动的沿海地区反哺内地农民工返乡创业的整合-互动机制。     

创业激情、创业学习与农民工创业绩效

创业激情作为个人积极情绪的重要构成部分,是创业实践活动成功的重要因素,创业者具有的激情往往通过一定的创业学习行为才能真正实现企业的绩效。ABO模型提出创业者个人的情绪会影响创业者的学习行为,进而影响创业者的绩效。基于此,文章借鉴ABO理论,基于陕西省889份农民工创业者实地调研数据,结合农民工创业者特点,运用分步回归分析法和结构方程模型验证农民工创业激情、创业学习对创业绩效的影响机理。结果表明：农民工创业激情可以通过身份认同、创新、乐观、心流4个维度进行测度;创业激情中创新和心流对组织绩效和个人绩效均具有直接正向影响,身份认同与乐观只对个人绩效有直接正向影响;农民工创业学习对两类绩效均具有显著正向影响;创业学习在创新、心流与组织绩效、个人绩效之间均起到了中介作用,但在身份认同、乐观与两类绩效之间的中介作用不显著。研究成果可为中国情境下如何提升农民工的学习能力,进而保持其创业激情、提升其创业绩效提供理论参考和实践依据。     

Wage increases, wage convergence, and the Lewis turning point in China

We examine the wage trends of ordinary workers and the wage convergence between unskilled and skilled workers in China. First, we find that wages in all non-agricultural sectors, wages of migrant workers, and wages of hired workers in the agricultural sector have increased dramatically since 2003. Second, through comparing wage differentials between migrant and urban resident workers and between heterogeneous education groups within migrant workers, and by investigating the changes in the contribution of the returns to education to wage differentials, we find that the wages of unskilled and skilled workers have converged. Both the increasing wage trends and wage convergence are interpreted as evidence supporting the hypothesis that China has passed what can be called the Lewis turning point in the industrial sector. We conclude that the sustainability of economic growth in China requires an upgrading of labor market institutions to accommodate the merging of the rural and urban labor forces.     

制度变迁与女性创业者崛起——来自LN家族的案例

以一个长时段的女性主导的家族创业为例,考察制度变迁与中国女性创业者崛起的关系,既有理论的必要性、也有现实的合理性。作者采用扎根理论方法,构建了基于制度理论的分析模型,用研究中自然涌现的"男女平权、创业合法化、女性创业能力"三个基本要素刻画了女性创业者崛起的关键因素。研究结果显示,制度变迁的发生顺序造就了中国女性创业者的崛起,集权体制具有发起大规模社会变革的效率优势,男女平权制度冲击了传统家庭模式和性别分工,改革开放实现创业合法化,通过干中学等方式女性积累并提高了发现、利用创业机会的能力,在三因素的共同作用下,中国女性创业者走上了崛起之路。作者基于制度变迁的视角建立了女性创业的理论框架,分析女性创业的原因以及如何兴起的过程。     

Risk Attitudes and Self-employment in China

Using the 2006 wave of the Chinese General Social Survey, the present paper examines the effect of risk attitudes on the likelihood of entrepreneurship in China. Our results show that risk attitudes have a nonlinear effect on the likelihood of being entrepreneurs. Risk neutral people are most likely to be entrepreneurs, while both risk averse and risk seeking people prefer to work for wages. When we further divide entrepreneurs into necessity and opportunity entrepreneurs, we find only a marginal difference in risk attitudes between wage workers and necessity entrepreneurs, while less risk averse individuals tend to be opportunity entrepreneurs. Our results have important poliey implications for the government ＂s efforts to promote entrepreneurial activities.     

Public Policy Environment and Entrepreneurial Activities: Evidence from China

What determines the effectiveness of government entrepreneurship policies on the regional development of entrepreneurial activities in China? Using panel data analysis, this study develops a comprehensive framework that examines the effects of various factors, including government efficiency and government support for business, finance and technology, on facilitating the creation of new ventures. Based on provincial data collected between 2009 and 2014, we find that the level of infrastructure development, government incubators and venture capital‐guided funds have positive and significant effects on entrepreneurial activities. The findings of our study suggest that local government efficiency is a fundamental precondition for entrepreneurship policies to effectively boost the regional economy.     

The link between entrepreneurship and informal investment: An international comparison

This study explores the link between entrepreneurship and informal investment. Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data, we examine what types of individuals invest in new businesses. The results reveal that individuals who engage in entrepreneurial activity are, on average, three times more likely to invest in new businesses than those who do not. We also find that individuals with entrepreneurial networks are more likely to invest in new businesses. Moreover, we present estimation results for the odds ratio of business ownership/management and informal investment, as well as of entrepreneurial networks and informal investment, in each country. We find that the link between entrepreneurship and informal investment differs across countries. Specifically, while the proportion of individuals who start businesses or engage in informal investment in Japan is lower than in other countries, the relationship between entrepreneurial propensity and informal investment in Japan is the greatest among 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, suggesting the presence of small-world phenomena in entrepreneurship in Japan.     

迁移与幸福

文章结合2012年度流动人口动态监测调查数据，系统考察了迁移行为对农民工主观幸福感的影响。研究表明：相比于省内迁移，跨省迁移对农民工的主观幸福感有显著负面影响；同样，相比于家庭化迁移，孤身外出也会显著弱化农民工的主观幸福感。在加入其他解释变量、控制地区效应，并通过倾向得分匹配法和处理效应模型纠正选择性偏误后，结论依然稳健。进一步，作用机制的分析表明，社会交往是迁移行为影响农民工主观幸福感的重要渠道，之所以跨省迁移、孤身外出的农民工主观幸福感偏低，很可能是因为面临着社会交往的困境，社会网络局限、社区参与不足。     

Female Access and Rights to Land,and Rural Non‐farm Entrepreneurship in Four African Countries

This paper examines the relationship between female access to land, rights to such land, and engagement in non‐farm entrepreneurship in rural Africa. We used data from the four countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi) that were featured in the Living Standards Measurement Study—Integrated Surveys in Agriculture dataset for the period 2013–15. To estimate the relationship, we compute the marginal effect from the logistic regression, while controlling for other important covariates that explain non‐farm activities at the individual/household level. We find that overall, women's access to land and rights to such land significantly explain their likelihood to engage in non‐farm enterprises. However, this relationship is not seen across the sampled countries. In Nigeria, for instance, we find that though the relationship is positive, it was not significant. While for Ethiopia, Tanzania and Malawi, we find a positive and significant relationship. We explain our result based on two important perspectives. The policy implications of our result are included in the paper.     

数字普惠金融对农户创业行为的影响

利用面板数据模型阐释数字普惠金融对资源获取、人力资本培训和区域经济增长的功能效应,分析数字普惠金融对农民创业行为的动态影响。结果表明：数字普惠金融总指数对农户创业决策具有显著的激励作用,3个细分指标中覆盖广度的作用最为明显。异质性分析结果揭示了在数字普惠金融发展更完善的东中部地区,数字普惠金融的创业存在显著促进作用,对农户创业规模的正向影响更为明显。最后根据结论提出政策建议。     

大众创业对中国经济发展的影响机制分析

针对当前大众创业热潮背景下存在的创业质量不高、创新性不足等问题,从经济增长数量和经济增长质量两个维度,分析大众创业对经济发展的影响,且需要在不同发展阶段和不同经济区域考察大众创业对经济发展影响的异质性。从就业效应、竞争效应、创新效应和结构效应四个方面分析了大众创业对经济发展的影响机制,认为创业活动不仅通过就业效应和竞争效应影响经济增长数量,促进短期经济增长,更重要的是,创业活动会通过创新效应和结构效应影响经济增长质量,促进长期经济增长。     

Technological diffusion,migration and entrepreneurship in China

In the past decades, China has been experiencing a huge mass of internal migration with rapid economic development. Using the 2005 Census data, our paper empirically explores how migration experiences affect entrepreneurship heterogeneously. The “falling” migration experiences, from a relatively developed place to a developing place, could enhance the human capital accumulation of migrant workers and assist them to become entrepreneurs. Moreover, we find that migrant entrepreneurs are more likely to engage in the industry with a comparative advantage in their original residential places. That is, technology diffuses with migration.