抄録
With the reform of the hukou (registered permanent residence) system in China, many farmers are moving to cities for work. Depending on whether the hukou is changed, mobility characteristics are studied as either migration or floating migration. Based on survey data from Lulong and Changli Counties of Hebei Province, China, this paper considers four aspects of migration and floating migration: individual characteristics, household characteristics, home region characteristics and destination characteristics. Farmers with a low educational level, less training, and whose family owns more land or has a larger social network are more likely to engage in floating migration. Farmers' educational level and amount of training in migration are higher than those in floating migration. In terms of the destination characteristics, regions with a low unemployment rate or large surface tend to attract migration; most farmers with floating migration are prone to move to the regions with a high unemployment rate or small surface. Another notable finding is the difference of distance. Most of the destinations of floating migration are in North China near Hebei Province; therefore, small distance plays a vital role in attracting floating migration. However, besides northern regions, the southeast coastal areas have attracted migration, which implies that distance may not be an important factor affecting migration.
JEL Classification: C42, J61, R10, R23
