[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hka/wpaper/2024-004.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Hukou Status and Children’s Education in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yue Sun
  • Liqiu Zhao
  • Zhong Zhao

    (Renmin University of China)

Abstract
Under China’s household registration (hukou) system, children with rural hukou lack equal access to education in urban areas. This paper investigates the causal effect of hukou status on children’s education by exploiting an exogenous change in hukou status induced by the hukou reform in 1998. Before the reform, children could only inherit their mother’s hukou status. Post-1998, newborns and preschoolers gained the ability to inherit either their father’s or mother’s hukou status, creating a unique exogenous opportunity for children with urban fathers and rural mothers to obtain urban hukou. Using China’s 2010 population census data, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to examine the impact of hukou status on children’s education. Our findings reveal that the younger cohorts exposed to the reform are 15.1 percentage points more likely to have urban hukou and 18.9 percentage points more likely to be at the appropriate grade level for their age. Moreover, the effect is more pronounced amongst girls and children from educated families or large cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue Sun & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2024. "Hukou Status and Children’s Education in China," Working Papers 2024-004, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2024-004
    Note: MIP
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Zhao_2024_hukou_status_childrens_ed_China.pdf
    File Function: First version, January 2024
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Spagat, Michael, 2006. "Human capital and the future of transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 44-56, March.
    2. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    3. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    4. Wang, Chuhong & Liu, Xingfei & Yan, Zizhong & Zhao, Yi, 2022. "Higher education expansion and crime: New evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Esther Duflo, 2001. "Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an Unusual Policy Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 795-813, September.
    6. Qin, Xuezheng & Zhuang, Castiel Chen & Yang, Rudai, 2017. "Does the one-child policy improve children's human capital in urban China? A regression discontinuity design," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 287-303.
    7. Liu, Xingfei & Wang, Chuhong & Yan, Zizhong & Zhao, Yi, 2022. "Higher Education Expansion and Crime: New Evidence from China," Working Papers 2022-2, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    8. Xin Meng, 2012. "Labor Market Outcomes and Reforms in China," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 75-102, Fall.
    9. Melissa S. Kearney & Phillip B. Levine, 2019. "Early Childhood Education by Television: Lessons from Sesame Street," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 318-350, January.
    10. Wei Huang & Xiaoyan Lei & Ang Sun, 2021. "Fertility Restrictions and Life Cycle Outcomes: Evidence from the One-Child Policy in China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(4), pages 694-710, October.
    11. Brown, Philip H. & Park, Albert, 2002. "Education and poverty in rural China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 523-541, December.
    12. Xin Meng & Sen Xue, 2020. "Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural–urban migrant experience," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 155-195, January.
    13. Xiaogang Wu & Donald Treiman, 2004. "The household registration system and social stratification in China: 1955–1996," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(2), pages 363-384, May.
    14. Mary A. Silles, 2017. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Education: New Evidence from Adoptions in the USA," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(336), pages 748-778, October.
    15. Chen, Qihui, 2015. "Ready for school? Impacts of delayed primary school enrollment on children's educational outcomes in rural China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 112-128.
    16. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    17. Yao Pan, 2017. "The Impact of Removing Selective Migration Restrictions on Education: Evidence from China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(3), pages 859-885.
    18. Li Han & Tao Li & Yaohui Zhao, 2015. "How Status Inheritance Rules Affect Marital Sorting: Theory and Evidence from Urban China," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(589), pages 1850-1887, December.
    19. Liu, Ling & Wan, Qian, 2019. "The effect of education expansion on intergenerational transmission of education: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    20. Xiao, Yun & Li, Li & Zhao, Liqiu, 2017. "Education on the cheap: The long-run effects of a free compulsory education reform in rural china," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 544-562.
    21. Song, Yang, 2014. "What should economists know about the current Chinese hukou system?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 200-212.
    22. Eddie Chi Man Hui & Ka Hung Yu & Yinchuan Ye, 2014. "Housing Preferences of Temporary Migrants in Urban China in the wake of Gradual Hukou Reform: A Case Study of Shenzhen," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1384-1398, July.
    23. Can Tang & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2020. "Does free education help combat child labor? The effect of a free compulsory education reform in rural China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 601-631, April.
    24. Tani, Massimiliano & Xu, Lei & Zhu, Yu, 2021. "The impact of an un(der)funded inclusive education policy: Evidence from the 2013 China education panel survey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 768-784.
    25. Xuan Huo & Mingang Lin, 2022. "Evolution of the rural social security system in a large country over 35 years: institutional transformation and the Chinese experience," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sun, Yue & Zhao, Liqiu & Zhao, Zhong, 2024. "Hukou Status and Children's Education in China," IZA Discussion Papers 16763, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Tang, Le & Sun, Shiyu & Yang, Weiguo, 2021. "Investments in human capital: The evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Chen, Anqi & Li, Yongyou, 2024. "Long-term effects of early-life education intervention on children’s outcomes: Evidence from school consolidation in rural China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    4. Qinyou Hu, 2024. "Social status and marriage markets: Evaluating a Hukou policy in China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 477-509, June.
    5. Chen, Yi & Fang, Hanming, 2021. "The long-term consequences of China's “Later, Longer, Fewer” campaign in old age," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Chen, Jiwei & Guo, Jiangying, 2022. "The effect of female education on fertility: Evidence from China’s compulsory schooling reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    8. Can Tang & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2020. "Does free education help combat child labor? The effect of a free compulsory education reform in rural China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 601-631, April.
    9. Cui, Ying & Liu, Hong & Zhao, Liqiu, 2019. "Mother's education and child development: Evidence from the compulsory school reform in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 669-692.
    10. Zhao, Liqiu & Wang, Fei & Zhao, Zhong, 2021. "Trade liberalization and child labor," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Guido Neidhöfer & Miguel Niño‐Zarazúa, 2019. "The Long(er)‐Term Impacts of Chile Solidario on Human Capital and Labor Income," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(S1), pages 209-244, December.
    12. Liu, Xinyan & Xu, Yunjiao, 2021. "Unexpected opportunity for girls: Earthquake, disaster relief and female education in China's poor counties," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Mustafa Özer & Jan Fidrmuc & Mehmet Ali Eryurt, 2018. "Maternal education and childhood immunization in Turkey," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(8), pages 1218-1229, August.
    14. Guido Neidhöfer & Miguel Niño‐Zarazúa, 2019. "The Long(er)‐Term Impacts of Chile Solidario on Human Capital and Labor Income," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(S1), pages 209-244, December.
    15. Berlinski, Samuel & Galiani, Sebastian, 2007. "The effect of a large expansion of pre-primary school facilities on preschool attendance and maternal employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 665-680, June.
    16. Carol Propper & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Can Pay Regulation Kill? Panel Data Evidence on the Effect of Labor Markets on Hospital Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(2), pages 222-273, April.
    17. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    18. Fang, Guanfu & Zhu, Ying, 2022. "Long-term impacts of school nutrition: Evidence from China’s school meal reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Advani, Arun & Sloczynski, Tymon, 2013. "Mostly Harmless Simulations? On the Internal Validity of Empirical Monte Carlo Studies," IZA Discussion Papers 7874, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Jacopo Bonan & Laura Pagani, 2018. "Junior Farmer Field Schools, Agricultural Knowledge and Spillover Effects: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Northern Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(11), pages 2007-2022, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hukou reform; grade-for-age; education equality; rural-urban disparity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2024-004. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jennifer Pachon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mfichus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.