Impact of risk perception on migrant workers’ employment choice during the COVID-19 epidemic

Abstract As the Chinese government called for “targeted resumption of work and production in different regions and at different levels” after the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) outbreak, rural migrant workers returning to work became an important factor for economic recovery and stabilizing labor supply. Based on data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, this paper investigates farmers’ perception of risk in the epidemic situation and reveals the impact of farmers’ risk perception on working outside of their hometowns. The results show that: 1) farmers generally believe the risk of epidemics is higher in urban areas than in rural areas; and 2) farmers’ risk perceptions significantly influence their decisions of working outside of their hometowns. This paper provides important policy implications in labor supply and crisis management.