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Hukou and Highways : The Impact of China’s Spatial Development Policies on Urbanization and Regional Inequality

China has used two main spatial policies to shape its geographic patterns of development: restricted labor mobility through the Hukou residential registration system and massive infrastructure investment, notably a 96,000 kilometer national express...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bosker, Maarten, Deichmann, Uwe, Roberts, Mark
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:
LIVING STANDARDS
TRANSPORT SECTOR
CITY TRANSPORT
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
ECONOMIC GROWTH
URBANIZATION
BIG CITIES
RAIL NETWORK
FLOW OF MIGRANTS
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
TRANSPORTATION COSTS
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC SERVICES
HEALTH CARE
RURAL TRANSPORT
POLICY DISCUSSIONS
REDUCTION IN TRAVEL
DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
RAILWAY LINES
HIGHWAY SYSTEM
PUBLICATIONS
RURAL POPULATION
CHANGE IN POPULATION
AIR
POPULATION SIZE
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
DRIVERS
SPEEDS
KNOWLEDGE
DEVELOPMENT
URBAN MIGRATION
TRANSPORT INVESTMENTS
ROAD
CHINESE POPULATION
COSTS
ROAD NETWORK
EQUAL RIGHTS
POTENTIAL MIGRANTS
TRANSPORT
POPULATION GROWTH
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
INCOME INEQUALITY
MOBILITY
AIR CONDITIONING
RING ROADS
INDUSTRIALIZATION
CITIZEN
MIGRATION
POLLUTION
SERVICE PROVISION
CULTURAL CHANGE
TRAVEL TIMES
SERVICE DELIVERY
MIGRANTS
NATURAL RESOURCES
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
ROUTE
URBAN DWELLERS
INFRASTRUCTURE
LAND USE
RESPECT
PROGRESS
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION
MIGRATION FLOWS
UNEMPLOYMENT
HUMAN CAPITAL
CONGESTION
DRIVING
MIGRANT
TRAVEL
TRANSPORTATION
POLICIES
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
POPULATION CHANGES
POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER
CONGESTION COSTS
POLICY MAKERS
ELASTICITIES
CHANGES IN POPULATION SIZE
LARGE CITIES
TRAINS
ACCESSIBILITY
POPULATION DENSITY
URBAN AREAS
HIGH SPEED RAIL NETWORK
POPULATIONS
HIGHWAY NETWORK
RAILWAY
HIGHWAYS
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
POLICY
CITIZENS
ROADS
MIGRATION POLICIES
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
RURAL RESIDENTS
HIGHWAY
MINORITY
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
RESIDENCE STATUS
NATURAL GAS
RAILWAYS
POPULATION MOVEMENTS
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
RESOLUTION
INVESTMENT
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
RURAL AREAS
HIGH SPEED RAIL
RAIL
INTERNAL MIGRATION
MIGRATION STATISTICS
POPULATION
INVESTMENTS
POLICY RESEARCH
URBAN POPULATIONS
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
TRANSPORT COSTS
REMITTANCES
PUBLIC SERVICE
TRAVEL TIME
URBAN POPULATION
POPULATION INCREASES
HEALTH SERVICES
AVERAGE TRAVEL TIME
EXPRESSWAYS
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/06/24738063/hukou-highways-impact-china’s-spatial-development-policies-urbanization-regional-inequality
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22231
Description
Summary:China has used two main spatial policies to shape its geographic patterns of development: restricted labor mobility through the Hukou residential registration system and massive infrastructure investment, notably a 96,000 kilometer national expressway network. This paper develops a structural new economic geography model to examine the impacts of these policies. Fitting the model to available data allows simulating counterfactual scenarios comparing each policy’s respective impact on regional economic development and urbanization patterns across China. The results suggest large overall economic benefits from constructing the national expressway network and abolishing the Hukou system. Yet, the spatial impacts of the two policies are very different. The construction of the national expressway network reinforced existing urbanization patterns. The initially lagging regions not connected to the network have not benefitted much from its construction. By contrast, removal of the Hukou restrictions, which Chinese policy makers are considering, would result in much more widespread welfare gains, allowing everyone to gain by moving to where he or she is most productive. Removal of the Hukou restrictions would also promote urbanization in currently lagging (inland) regions, mostly by stimulating rural to urban migration.

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