Three Essays on Economic Reform and Household Behavior in Contemporary China

Lee, Ming-Hsuan. (2008). Three Essays on Economic Reform and Household Behavior in Contemporary China. Master's thesis / Doctoral dissertation, Boston University.

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Lee, Ming-Hsuan. (2008). Three Essays on Economic Reform and Household Behavior in Contemporary China. Master's thesis / Doctoral dissertation, Boston University.

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Abstract:

Since the advent of market-oriented economic reforms in 1978, China has undergone an ideological shift from communism to capitalism. My dissertation examines aspects of household economic behavior in contemporary China in the aftermath of economic reform with a special focus on migration. In Chapter One ("Schooling, Industrialization, and the One-Child Policy in China: Gender Differences in Senior Secondary Education") I examine how industrialization and the "one-child policy" has affected gender differences in schooling at the high school level. I argue that the one-child policy has fostered gender equality in schooling because parents prefer to invest in the human capital of their one child, even if that child is female, rather than exhibit so-called "son preference". I also demonstrate, however, that the gender gap has declined unevenly due to geographic differences in industrial structure. In the second chapter ("Addressing the Self-Selection Problem among Migrants: The Pattern of Internal Migration in China") I study the determinants of internal migration. I specify and estimate a model of internal migration that allows for "self-selection"--that is, the possibility that migrants may be more motivated (or more able) than non-migrants, or that migrants may choose their destination on the basis of comparative advantage. I find that Chinese internal migrants "follow the money"--that is, the wage gains due to migration--and that migrants are "positively selected" with respect to ability. Many of the individuals who migrate are parents who leave their children behind. The third chapter ("Migration and Children's Welfare in China: Schooling and Health of Children Left Behind") studies the impact of parental absence due to migration on the well-being of children. I find that parental absence has negative effects on the amount of schooling that children receive.

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Reference Type:
THES

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Series Title:

Author(s):
Lee, Ming-Hsuan

Editor(s):

Series Author(s):
Margo, Robert A.

Year Published:
2008

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Volume Number:
3279938

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Start Page Number:
167-n/a

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Publisher:
Boston University

City of Publication:
Ann Arbor

ISSN/ISBN:
9780549210733

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Reference ID:
1985

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