Labor Migration by Race and Its Factors in China: The Cases of Han and Minority People in Jilin Province

• Published in: Asian Studies Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 30 - 44
• Main Author: HAN, Meilan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Association for Asian Studies 31.07.2010; 一般財団法人 アジア政経学会
• ISSN: 0044-9237; 2188-2444
• DOI: 10.11479/asianstudies.56.3_30

Economic reform and the introduction of a market economy have enabled China to achieve a high rate of economic growth. On the other hand, this growth has increased urban–rural, cross-region and cross-race income differentials in China. There has been large-scale migration of labor from rural to urban regions, and from interior to coastal regions, where economies have been well developed. After China and Korea established official relations with each other in 1992, Jilin Province became the second province in terms of international migration, after Fujian Province. It is important to examine the reasons why migration patterns may differ among various races and the factors determining the migration process. This paper reveals which factors determining migration are more important to minority peoples, compared with the Han population. Interregional labor migration in China has been the subject of much research. However, only a few studies have focused on labor migration by race in labor supply regions in China. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanism of labor migration by race, based on data from a questionnaire survey. According to the empirical results, we observed an obvious difference in labor migration by race. The important factors determining labor migration are race, individual characteristics, a family remittance, the existence of a network of friends and relatives, and not differentials in desired income. The effects of those factors may differ among races.