Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T03:35:00.853Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL MIGRATION, DIVORCE AND WELL-BEING IN CHINA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2017

Alok Bhargava  and
Xiayun Tan
Alok Bhargava*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, Washington, DC, USA
Xiayun Tan
Affiliation:
The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The rapid economic growth in China has been accompanied by increases in internal migration as well as marital dissolution. Using longitudinal data from China Health and Nutrition Surveys covering over 19,000 individuals during 1989–2011, this study modelled the inter-relationships between internal migration, divorce and individual well-being, tackling conceptual and methodological aspects such as the joint determination of variables. First, random effects probit models showed that the migration periods of husbands and wives significantly increased their respective chances of divorce. Second, results from dynamic random effects models for self-reported health showed different effects of separation periods for husbands and wives; divorce did not significantly lower health status. Third, dynamic models for systolic and diastolic blood pressures showed significant effects of migration durations of husbands and wives; men had lower systolic blood pressure following divorce thereby indicating beneficial effects for unhappily married couples. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 50 , Issue 5 , September 2018 , pp. 706 - 722
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T. W. & Hsiao, C. (1981) Estimation of dynamic models with error components. Journal of the American Statistical Association 76, 598–606.Google Scholar
Bhargava, A. (1997) Nutritional status and the allocation of time in Rwandese households. Journal of Econometrics 77, 277–295.Google Scholar
Bhargava, A. (2003a) Family planning, gender differences and infant mortality: evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Econometrics 112, 225–240.Google Scholar
Bhargava, A. (2003b) A longitudinal analysis of the risk factors for diabetes and coronary heart disease in the Framingham Offspring study. Population Health Metrics 1, 1–10.Google Scholar
Bhargava, A. & Sargan, J. D. (1983) Estimating dynamic random effects models from panel data covering short time periods. Econometrica 51, 1635–1660.Google Scholar
Chan, K. W. (2013) China: internal migration. Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. doi: 10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm124.Google Scholar
Chen, F., Liu, H., Vikram, K. & Guo, Y. (2015) For better or worse: the health implications of marriage separation due to migration in rural China. Demography 52, 1321–1343.Google Scholar
Cole, T. (1991) Weight-stature indices to measure under-weight, over-weight and obesity. In Himes, J. (ed.) Anthropometric Assessment of Nutritional Status. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp. 83–111.Google Scholar
Du, S., Lu, B., Zhai, F. & Popkin, B. M. (2002) A new stage of the nutrition transition in China. Public Health Nutrition 5, 169–174.Google Scholar
Entwisle, B. & Chen, F. (2002) Work patterns following a birth in urban and rural China: a longitudinal study. European Journal of Population 18, 99–119.Google Scholar
Gao, J. & Prasad, N. (2013) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China: potential role of indacetoral. Journal of Thoracic Disease 5, 549–558.Google Scholar
Hu, X., Cook, S. & Salazer, M. (2008) Internal migration and health in China. The Lancet 372(9651), 1717–1719.Google Scholar
Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. & Krzyzanowska, M. (2017) Biological aspects of human migration and mobility. Annals of Human Biology 44 (in press), doi: 10.1080/03014460.2017.1313448 Google Scholar
McCullagh, P. (1980) Regression models for ordinal data. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B 42, 109–142.Google Scholar
Mincer, J. (1962) Labor force participation of married women. In Lewis, G. H. (ed.) Aspects of Labor Economics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp. 63–106.Google Scholar
Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (2015) Social Service Development Statistics Bulletin. URL: http://www.mca.gov.cn/article/sj/tjgb/201607/20160700001136.shtml (accessed 15th September 2017).Google Scholar
Mou, J., Cheng, J., Zhang, D., Jiang, H., Lin, L. & Griffiths, S. (2009) Health care utilisation amongst Shenzhen migrant workers: does being insured make a difference? BMC Health Services Research 9, 214.Google Scholar
Muhuri, P. & Preston, S. (1991) Effects of family composition on mortality differentials by sex among children in Matlab, Bangladesh. Population and Development Review 17, 415–434.Google Scholar
Numerical Algorithm Group. (1990) Numerical Algorithm Group Library, Mark 13. Oxford University, Oxford, 1991.Google Scholar
Rubin, D. B. (1987) Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Short, S. E., Ma, L. & Yu, W. (2000) Birth planning and sterilization in China. Population Studies 54, 279–291.Google Scholar
Sun, A. & Zhao, Y. (2014) Divorce, abortion and children’s sex ratio: the impact of divorce reform in China. IZA. URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8230.pdf (accessed 15th September 2017).Google Scholar
Tong, Y. & Piotrowski, M. (2012) Migration and health selectivity in the context of internal migration in China, 1997–2009. Population Research and Policy Review 31, 497–543.Google Scholar
Waite, L. & Gallagher, M. (2000) The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Heathier, and Better Off Financially. Doubleday, New York.Google Scholar
Wang, C., Wang, S. & Carroll, R. (1997) Estimation in choice-based sampling with measurement error and bootstrap analysis. Journal of Econometrics 77, 1–296.Google Scholar
Whang, Z., Zhai, F., Zhang, B. & Popkin, B. (2012) Trends in Chinese snacking behaviors and patterns and the social-demographic role between 1991 and 2009. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 21, 253–262.Google Scholar
World Bank. (2011) Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, 2nd edition. World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Xu, Q., Yu, J. & Qiu, Z. (2015) The impact of children on divorce risk. Journal of Chinese Sociology 2, 1.Google Scholar