Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Against the backdrop of China’s new urbanization and regional coordination strategies, the social integration of rural-to-urban migrants has become an increasingly critical indicator of state governance modernization and institutional performance. Considering rural migrants in Jilin Province as the research subject, particularly in the context of its agricultural revitalization and urbanization policies, this study constructs an “embedding–activation” theoretical framework grounded in institutional theory and social capital theory. It proposes a mechanism in which formal institutions are embedded within informal institutions and generate effective governance outcomes through cognitive transformation facilitated by social capital. Empirically, the study applies structural equation modeling to identify the direct and indirect pathways through which policy cognition, social trust, identity, and economic integration influence social integration. Additionally, machine learning methods are employed to reveal the marginal contributions and nonlinear transition characteristics of individual variables, bridging the gap between causal explanation and predictive accuracy. The results demonstrate that social capital functions as a cognitive trigger for activating institutional efficacy and plays a key mediating role in promoting migrants’ social integration. The success of institutional incentives depends on the accumulation of individual cognition and the threshold effects of trust and identity mechanisms, resulting in a behavioral shift from passive acceptance to active engagement. This dynamic promotes the expansion of scope and deepening of structure in social integration. By adopting an institution–cognition–behavior analytical lens, this study enriches the micro-foundations of institutional theory and provides support for enhancing the evaluation, responsiveness, and effectiveness of migration.

Keywords

rural-to-urban migrants social integration structural equation modeling machine learning policy evaluation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Acemoglu

Robinson

J. A.

(2012). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. Crown Business.

Bifarin

O. O.

(2023). Interpretable machine learning with tree-based shapley additive explanations: Application to metabolomics datasets for binary classification. PLOS One, 18(5), Article e0284315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284315

Bishop

C. M.

(2006). Pattern recognition and machine learning. Springer.

Blanthorne

Lois

A. J. F.

Dreike

A. E.

(2006). Why you should consider SEM: A guide to getting started. In Arnold

Clinton

B. D.

Luckett

(Eds.), Advances in accounting behavioral research (pp. 179–207). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Chen

Z. J.

(2016). Human capital, geographical characteristics, and migrant workers’ willingness to urbanize: An empirical analysis based on structural equation modeling. Agricultural Technology Economy, 1(1), 37–47.

China Daily Jilin . (2024). “Zero barrier”, “settle at will”: Jilin promotes the people-centered citizenization of the agricultural transfer population. https://jl.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202411/26/WS67453e49a310b59111da57c2.html

Collier

J. E.

(2020). Applied structural equation modeling using AMOS: Basic to advanced techniques. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003018414

Denzau

A. T.

North

D. C.

(1994). Shared mental models: Ideologies and institutions. Kyklos, 47(1), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6435.1994.tb02246.x

H. M.

(2006). Social role transformation of land-lost farmers in suburban areas. Social Scientist, 9(9), 105–110.

10.

Feng

Jiang

Zheng

W. B.

(2019). Cognition, informal constraints, and institutional change: An evolutionary game theory perspective. Comparative Economic and Social Systems, 2(2), 165–177.

11.

Festinger

(1950). Informal social communication. Psychological Review, 57(5), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056932

12.

Friedkin

N. E.

(2004). Social cohesion. Annual Review of Sociology, 30(1), 409–425. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110625

13.

Gao

(2004). Issues concerning land-lost farmers in the process of urbanization. Economist, 1(1), 47–51.

14.

Granovetter

(1978). Threshold models of collective behavior. American Journal of Sociology, 83(6), 1420–1443. https://doi.org/10.1086/226707

15.

S. Z.

Cao

Y. B.

(2014). Two-dimensional paths of urban integration for migrant workers in China: A perspective based on hukou reform. Chinese Journal of Population Science, 5(2–10), 126.

16.

Hair

J. F.

Black

W. C.

Babin

B. J.

Anderson

R. E.

(2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.

17.

Hastie

Tibshirani

Friedman

(2009). The elements of statistical learning: Data mining, inference, and prediction (2nd ed.). Springer.

18.

Helmke

Levitsky

(2004). Informal institutions and comparative politics: A research agenda. Perspectives on Politics, 2(4), 725–740. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592704040472

19.

Hoyle

R. H.

(1995). Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications. Sage Publications.

20.

James

Witten

Hastie

Tibshirani

(2013). An introduction to statistical learning: With applications in R. Springer.

21.

P. L.

(1996). The social networks and social status of rural migrant workers. Journal of Sociological Studies, 4, 42–52.

22.

Xiong

Zhu

Lin

(2021). Family migration and social integration of migrants: Evidence from Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), Article 12983. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182412983

23.

Little

(2008). Complexity theory and democratic politics. In Little

(Ed.), Democratic piety: Complexity, conflict and violence. Edinburgh University Press.

24.

Chen

(2004). Urbanization, urban-biased economic policies, and the urban-rural income gap. Economic Research Journal, 6(6), 50–58.

25.

Lundberg

Lee

S. I.

(2017). A unified approach to interpreting model predictions. arXiv:1705.07874.

26.

(2004). A brief discussion on the main obstacles to the urban integration of rural migrant workers. Journal of the CPC Chengdu Municipal Party School (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2(2), 45–47.

27.

Molnar

(n.d.). Interpretable machine learning. https://christophm.github.io/interpretable-ml-book/

28.

National Bureau of Statistics of China . (2024). Statistical communiqué of the People’s Republic of China on the 2023 national economic and social development. https://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202402/t20240228_1947918.html

29.

Ning

Y. M.

Yang

C. K.

(2019). Social integration of urban migrants under the background of new-type urbanization. Geographical Research, 38(1), 23–32.

30.

North

D. C.

(1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press.

31.

North

D. C.

(2005). Understanding the process of economic change. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400829484

32.

Putnam

R. D.

(1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press.

33.

Reindl

Auer

Gniewosz

(2022). Social integration in higher education and development of intrinsic motivation: A latent transition analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 877072. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.877072

34.

Ridings

C. M.

Gefen

Arinze

(2002). Some antecedents and effects of trust in virtual communities. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 11(3–4), 271–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0963-8687(02)00021-5

35.

Schelling

T. C.

(1978). Micromotives and macrobehavior. WW Norton & Company.

36.

Smelser

N. J.

Baltes

P. B.

(2001). International encyclopaedia of the social and behavioral science. Elsevier. Oxford Science Publications Limited.

37.

Wang

Chen

Yang

(2015). Psychometric evaluation of health related quality of life among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 13(1), 155. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-015-0350-1

38.

Wang

S. Z.

Yang

(2018). Adaptive social mobilization in grass roots policy implementation: Administrative control and pluralistic participation. Social Sciences in China, 11(11), 135–155.

39.

Wang

X. L.

(2013). Revising China’s urbanization level from the perspective of citizenship transformation. Chinese Journal of Population Science, 5(5), 87–95.

40.

Wei

Ren

Guo

(2022). Evaluation of public service facilities in 19 large cities in China from the perspective of supply and demand. Land, 11(2), 149. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020149

41.

C. J.

Chen

S. H.

Wang

Y. X.

(2015). Willingness and obstacles of rural migrant workers’ urbanization: An informal institutional perspective based on a case study of Zhanjiang. Economic Geography, 35(12), 84–89.

42.

Yang

J. H.

(2009). From segregation and selective inclusion to integration: Theoretical reflections on the social integration of the floating population. Population Research, 33(1), 17–29.

43.

Yang

(2010a). An index system for the social integration of migrant populations in destination areas: A further study based on social integration theory. Population and Economics, 2(2), 64–70.

44.

Yang

J. H.

(2010b). Indicator system for the social integration of the floating population in inflow areas: A further study based on the theory of social integration. Population and Economics, 2(2), 64–70.

45.

Yuan

K. H.

(2005). Fit indices versus test statistics. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 40(1), 115–148. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr4001_5

46.

Zhang

L. Y.

Chen

Y. T.

(2012). An analysis of the factors influencing the urbanization willingness of the new generation of migrant workers: Based on a survey in three cities of Guangdong Province. Northwest Population Journal, 33(4), 63–66.

47.

Zhou

X. G.

(2012). The campaign-style governance mechanism: Rethinking the institutional logic of China’s state governance. Open Times, 9, 105–125.

48.

Zhou

L. A.

(2014a). The administrative contract system. Society, 34(06), 1–38.

49.

Zhou

X. G.

(2014b). From the “Huang Zongxi rule” to the logic of empire: Historical clues to the logic of China’s state governance. Open Times, 4, 108–132.

50.

Zhou

X. G.

(2017). Authoritarian regime and effective governance: The institutional logic of governance in contemporary China. Sociological Research, 32(6), 1–22.

51.

Zhu

D. M.

Fang

(2008). Employment intentions, job selection, and social support networks of suburban land-lost farmers: A case study of Longquanyi District, Pi County, and Dujiangyan City in Chengdu. Urban Development Studies, 1, 41–45.

52.

Zhu

(2007). China’s floating population and their settlement intention in the cities: Beyond the hukou reform. Habitat International, 31(1), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2006.04.002

Social Integration Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants: A Dynamic Analysis Using a Hybrid Approach Integrating Structural Equation Modeling and Machine Learning

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References