Migration at the Provincial Level in China: Effects of the Economic Motivation and Migration Cost

Since 1978 when China relaxed the restriction om internal migration, thousands of millions of labors have moved from hometowns to other places in search of better jobs and higher incomes in 30 years. This study looks at the internal migration at provincial level from 1995 to 2000 and also analyzes how the different wages levels in different provinces or in rural and urban areas in the same province affect the migration. By looking at the percentage of migrants to the destination provinces (region) from the home province to the total migrants from the home province, the study assesses the to which extent the regional wage disparity affects the size of migration from 1995 to 2000