Abstract
The Chinese household registration system (hukou), which divides the population into “agricultural” and “nonagricultural” sectors, may be the most important determinant of differential privileges in state socialist China, determining access to good jobs, education for one’s children, housing, health care, and even the right to move to a city. Transforming one’s hukou status from rural to urban is a central aspect of upward social mobility. Using data from a 1996 national probability sample, we show that education and membership in the Chinese Communist Party are the main determinants of such mobility.
Chinese Communist Party, Urban Status, Household Registration, Party Membership, Military Experience
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
References
Allison, P. D. (
1984
). Event History Analysis
. Beverly Hills, CA
: Sage
.Bian, Y. (
1994
). Work and Inequality in Urban China
. Albany
: State University of New York Press
.Blau, P.M., & Ruan, D. (
1990
). Inequality of Opportunity in Urban China and America
. Research in Stratification and Mobility
, 9
, 3
–32
.Buchmann, C., & Hannum, E. (
2001
). Education and Stratification in Developing Countries: A Review of Theories and Research
. Annual Review of Sociology
, 27
, 77
–102
. 10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.77Chan, K.W., & Zhang, L. (
1999
). The Hukou System and Rural-Urban Migration in China: Processes and Changes
. China Quarterly
, 160
, 818
–55
. 10.1017/S0305741000001351Deng, Z., & Treiman, D.J. (
1997
). The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on Trends in Educational Attainment in the People’s Republic of China
. American Journal of Sociology
, 103
, 391
–428
. 10.1086/231212Ganzeboom, H.B.G., de Graaf, P., & Treiman, D.J. (
1992
). An International Scale of Occupational Status
. Social Science Research
, 21
, 1
–56
. 10.1016/0049-089X(92)90017-BGoldstein, S., Liang, Z., & Goldstein, A. (
2000
). Migration, Gender, and Labor Force in Hubei Province, 1985–1990
. In Entwisle, B., & Henderson, G.E. (Eds.), Re-drawing Boundaries: Work, Households, and Gender in China
(pp. 214
–30
). Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Hannum, E. (
1999
). Political Change and the Urban-Rural Gap in Basic Education in China, 1949–1990
. Comparative Education Review
, 43
, 193
–211
. 10.1086/447554Hannum, E., & Xie, Y. (
1994
). Trends in Educational Gender Inequality in China: 1949–1985
. Research in Social Stratification and Social Mobility
, 13
, 73
–98
.International Standard Classification of Occupations
. (1969
). Geneva
: International Labour Office
.Kasarda, J.D., & Crenshaw, E.M. (
1991
). Third World Urbanization: Dimensions, Theories, and Determinants
. Annual Review of Sociology
, 17
, 467
–501
. 10.1146/annurev.so.17.080191.002343Knight, J., & Shi, L. (
1996
). Educational Attainment and the Rural-Urban Divide in China
. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
, 58
, 83
–117
. 10.1111/j.1468-0084.1996.mp58001005.xLiang, Z. (
2001
). The Age of Migration in China
. Population and Development Review
, 27
, 499
–524
. 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00499.xLiang, Z., & Ma, Z. (
2003
). The Floating Population of China: New Evidence From the 2000 Population Census
. Hong Kong
: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
.Liang, Z., & White, M.J. (
1996
). Internal Migration in China 1950–1988
. Demography
, 33
, 375
–84
. 10.2307/2061768Liang, Z., & White, M.J. (
1997
). Market Transition, Government Policies, and Interprovincial Migration in China: 1983–1988
. Economic Development and Cultural Change
, 45
, 321
–84
. 10.1086/452276Lin, J. (
1992
). Issues of Inequality in Chinese Education
. Montreal
: Administration and Policies Studies in Education, McGill University
.Lin, J.Y. (
1988
). The Household Responsibility System in China’s Agricultural Reform: A Theoretical and Empirical Study
. Economic Development and Cultural Change
, 36
, S199
–S224
.Lin, N. (
2000
). Understanding the Social Inequality System and Family and Household Dynamics in China
. In Entwisle, B., & Henderson, G.E. (Eds.), Re-drawing Boundaries: Work, Households, and Gender in China
(pp. 284
–94
). Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Lin, N., & Bian, Y. (
1991
). Getting Ahead in Urban China
. American Journal of Sociology
, 97
, 657
–88
. 10.1086/229816Massey, D.S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A., & Taylor, J.E. (
1993
). Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal
. Population and Development Review
, 19
, 431
–66
. 10.2307/2938462Meisner, M. (
1999
). Mao’s China and After: A History of the People’s Republic
. 3rd ed.New York
: Free Press
.The Chinese Classification of Occupations
. (1986
). Beijing
: Standards Press of China
.Parish, W.L., & Whyte, M.K. (
1978
). Collective Agricultural Organization
Village and Family in Contemporary China
(pp. 30
–43
). Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Portes, A., & Böröcz, J. (
1989
). Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on Its Determinants and Modes of Incorporation
. International Migration Review
, 23
, 606
–30
. 10.2307/2546431Roberts, D.K. (
1997
). China’s ‘Tidal Wave’ of Migrant Labor: What Can We Learn From Mexican Undocumented Migration to the United States?
. International Migration Review
, 31
, 249
–93
. 10.2307/2547220Shavit, Y., & Blossfeld, H.-P. (
1993
). Persistent Inequality: Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries
. Boulder
: Westview Press
.Smerling, L.R. (
1979
). Admissions
. In Montaperto, R.N., & Henderson, J. (Eds.), China’s Schools in Flux
(pp. 92
–105
). White Plains, NY
: M. E. Sharpe
.Solinger, D.J. (
1999
). Contesting Citizenship in Urban China: Peasant Migrants, the State, and the Logic of Market
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Stata Statistical Software
. (2001
). College Station, TX
: StataCorp
.Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
(1986
). Hukou Dengji Tiaoli
Zhongguo Renkou Nianjian 1985
(pp. 83
–85
). Beijing
: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe
.Todaro, M.P. (
1976
). In Search of a ‘General’ Framework for Migration Analysis
Internal Migration in Developing Countries
(pp. 15
–19
). Geneva
: International Labor Office
.Treiman, D.J. (
1998
). Life Histories and Social Change in Contemporary China: Provisional Codebook
. Los Angeles
: UCLA Institute for Social Science Research
.Treiman, D.J. and A.G. Walder. 1996. Life Histories and Social Change in Contemporary China. Distributed by the UCLA Social Science Data Archive. Available on-line at http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/da
Treiman, D.J., & Yip, K.-B. (
1989
). Educational and Occupational Attainment in 21 Countries
. In Kohn, M.L. (Ed.), Cross-National Research in Sociology
(pp. 373
–94
). Newbury Park, CA
: Sage
.Walder, A.G. (
1986
). Communist Neo-Traditionalism: Work and Authority in Chinese Industry
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Walder, A.G., Li, B., & Treiman, D.J. (
2000
). Politics and Life Chances in a State Socialist Regime: Dual Career Paths Into the Urban Chinese Elite, 1949–1996
. American Sociological Review
, 65
, 191
–209
. 10.2307/2657437Wang, F., Zuo, X., & Ruan, D. (
2002
). Rural Migrants in Shanghai: Living Under the Shadow of Socialism
. International Migration Review
, 36
, 520
–45
.Whyte, M.K., & Parish, W. (
1984
). Urban Life in Contemporary China
. Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Wu, X. 2001. “Institutional Structures and Social Mobility in China: 1949–1996.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, UCLA.
Wu, X. (
2002
). Work Units and Income Inequality: The Effect of Market Transition in Urban China
. Social Forces
, 80
, 1069
–99
. 10.1353/sof.2002.0013Wu, X., & Xie, Y. (
2003
). Does the Market Pay Off? Earnings Inequality and Returns to Education in Urban China
. American Sociological Review
, 68
, 425
–42
. 10.2307/1519731Yang, X. (
1993
). Household Registration, Economic Reform, and Migration
. International Migration Review
, 27
, 796
–818
. 10.2307/2546913Zhou, X., Moen, P., & Tuma, N.B. (
1998
). Educational Stratification in Urban China: 1949–1994
. Sociology of Education
, 71
, 199
–222
. 10.2307/2673202© Population Association of America 2004
2004
Issue Section:
Articles
