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How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kim, MJ; Xie, X; Zhang, X
Published in: Sustainability (Switzerland)
June 2, 2021

Recent studies have shown that air quality is an important amenity for population reloca-tion in China. However, much of Chinese internal migration occurs due to non-discretionary reasons, such as government policies, family considerations, and military personnel reassignments. As such, estimates of the impact of environmental amenities on migration that do not control for migration reasons may be biased. Using the 2015 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this paper estimates the impact of ambient air pollution on voluntary migration to other provinces for work. We find that more polluted days (air quality index (AQI) >150) at the original residence leads to a significant increase in labor out-migration to a province with better air quality, providing evidence of the cur-rent migration trend leading to declining populations in China’s megacities. Our findings indicate that environmental migration is more favored among households that are less educated, are older, work overtime, and have lower income, suggesting that environmental migration may result from environmental health inequalities in socially disadvantaged families.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Sustainability (Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

2071-1050

Publication Date

June 2, 2021

Volume

13

Issue

12

Related Subject Headings

  • 12 Built Environment and Design
 

Citation

APA
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MLA
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Kim, M. J., Xie, X., & Zhang, X. (2021). How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126872
Kim, M. J., X. Xie, and X. Zhang. “How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 13, no. 12 (June 2, 2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126872.
Kim MJ, Xie X, Zhang X. How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china. Sustainability (Switzerland). 2021 Jun 2;13(12).
Kim, M. J., et al. “How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china.” Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 13, no. 12, June 2021. Scopus, doi:10.3390/su13126872.
Kim MJ, Xie X, Zhang X. How does an environmental amenity attract voluntary migrants? Evidence from ambient air quality in china. Sustainability (Switzerland). 2021 Jun 2;13(12).

Published In

Sustainability (Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

2071-1050

Publication Date

June 2, 2021

Volume

13

Issue

12

Related Subject Headings

  • 12 Built Environment and Design