Family migration and structural transformation

Abstract

This paper integrates the migration decisions of married couples into a multi-sector spatial model, investigating their impact on structural transformation, productivity and gender wage gap. Focusing on China, a country characterized by a higher share of agricultural employment and a lower share in services compared with countries with similar income, we uncover a significant gender gap in migration costs among rural married couples. Furthermore, while migration costs have decreased for all demographic groups from 2000 to 2010, the decline was least pronounced for married couples when both partners left agriculture. We find that reducing migration costs for married couples who migrate together would lead to a decline in agricultural employment, a rise in service sector employment, an increase in aggregate productivity and a narrowing of the gender wage gap. Eliminating the gender differences in migration costs would also increase service sector employment and reduce the gender wage gap.