Radio for Mobility: Public Information and Migration-Distance

Speaker: Danli Wang, Associate Professor, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics; Visiting Scholar, Stanford University

This paper provides the first direct evidence of the impact of public information availability on rural labor markets, using the 2006 “Full-Coverage-of-Radio” (FCR) policy in China as an exogenous shock. We find that the FCR project significantly increased rural labor mobility and also the income gains from mobility. We further explored the information and migration-distance relationship and found that in terms of geographical distance, rural radio significantly increased the probability of long-distance mobility; in terms of psychological distance, rural radio significantly increased the migration of villagers from rural-culture-dominant areas.

About the Workshops

The SCCEI Young Researcher Workshops are a bi-weekly series of presentations from scholars around campus who are working on issues related to China’s economy and institutions. The aim of the series is to bring together young scholars by providing a platform to present new research, get feedback, exchange ideas, and make connections. Each session features a single presenter who may present a new research plan, share results from preliminary data analyses, or do a trial run of a job talk or conference presentation. The Workshop Series is an opportunity to give and receive feedback on existing research, get to know other researchers around campus who are working on or in China, and be a testing ground for new ideas, data, and presentations.

Workshops are held every other Thursday from 1 - 2 pm. Afternoon refreshments will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present.