This study proposes a framework combining economic improvement and the disruption within family interactions to disentangle the effect of parental migration on left-behind children’s development. We proposed a concept of parental capital, which refers to the cultivated interactions between the primary caregiver and the child. The disruption effect is theorized here as loss in parental capital, that the decrease in frequency and stability of interactions between children and the primary caregiver caused by parental migration. This research draws on the 2012 China Urbanization and Labor Migration Survey (CULMS), a nationally representative dataset including a substantial migrant population. Our results show that the loss in parental capital mediates almost all of the adverse effects of parental absence. In addition, parental capital doesn’t significantly mediate the effect of father migration on children’s cognitive development, but it has substantial explaining power in the disadvantage of children with dual-parent migration.
AcharyaC. P.Leon-GonzalezR.. 2014. “How Do Migration and Remittances Affect Human Capital Investment? The Effects of Relaxing Information and Liquidity Constraints.” Journal of Development Studies50(3):444–60.
2.
AcostaP.2006. “Labor Supply, School Attendance, and Remittances from International Migration: The Case of El Salvador.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3903.
3.
AdamsJ. R. H.CuecuechaA.. 2010. “Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala.” World Development38(11):1626–41.
4.
AmblerK.AycinenaD.YangD.. 2015. “Channeling Remittances to Education: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics7(2):207–32.
5.
BattistellaG.ConacoM. C. G.. 1998. “The Impact of Labour Migration on the Children Left Behind: A Study of Elementary School Children in the Philippines.” Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia13(2):220–41.
6.
BinciM.GiannelliG. C.. 2016. “Internal Versus International Migration: Impacts of Remittances on Child Labor and Schooling in Vietnam.” International Migration Review52:43–65.
7.
BorjasG. J.1987. “Self-selection and the Earnings of Immigrants.” The American Economic Review77(4):531–53. Retrieved December6, 2022 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1814529).
8.
BredlS.2011. “Migration, Remittances and Educational Outcomes: The Case of Haiti.” International Journal of Educational Development31(2):162–68.
9.
BronfenbrennerU.1995. “Developmental Ecology through Space and Time: A Future Perspective.” pp. 619-647Examining Lives in Context: Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Development, edited by MoenP.ElderG.H.Jr.LüscherK..
10.
BronfenbrennerU.MorrisP. A.. 1979. The Bioecological Model of Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
BronfenbrennerU.MorrisP. A.. 1998. “The Ecology of Developmental Processes.” pp. 993-1028Handbook of Child Psychology: Volume 1: Theoretical Models of Human Development5 th ed., edited by DamonW.LernerR. M.. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
12.
BrownR. P. C.PoirineB.. 2005. “A Model of Migrants’ Remittances with Human Capital Investment and Intrafamilial Transfers.” International Migration Review39(2):407–38.
13.
BurnetteD.SunJ.SunF.. 2013. “A Comparative Review of Grandparent Care of Children in the US and China.” Ageing International38(1):43–57.
14.
ChanK. W.2010. “The Household Registration System and Migrant Labor in China: Notes on a Debate.” Population and Development Review36(2):357–64.
15.
ChangH.DongX.-y.MacPhailF.. 2011. “Labor Migration and Time Use Patterns of the Left-behind Children and Elderly in Rural China.” World Development39(12):2199–210.
16.
ChenF.LiuG.MairC. A.. 2011. “Intergenerational Ties in Context: Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren in China.” Social Forces90(2):571–94.
17.
ChenX.HuangQ.RozelleS.ShiY.ZhangL.. 2009. “Effect of Migration on Children’s Educational Performance in Rural China.” Comparative Economic Studies51(3):323–43.
18.
ChengS. J. A.2004. “Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration, and Domestic Work.” Feminist Review27(77):200–206.
CinelliC.HazlettC.. 2020. “Making Sense of Sensitivity: Extending Omitted Variable Bias.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Statistical Methodology)82(1):39–67.
21.
CohenJ. H.2011. “Migration, Remittances, and Household Strategies.” Annual Review of Anthropology40:103–14.
22.
ColemanJ. S.1988. “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital.” American Journal of Sociology94:S95–S120.
23.
CortesP.2015. “The Feminization of International Migration and Its Effects on the Children Left Behind: Evidence from the Philippines.” World Development65:62–78.
24.
DuY.PiaoZ.. 2003. “Labor Migration Income Transfer and the Change of Poverty.” China Rural Survey5:2–9.
25.
DuanC.LvL.ZouX.. 2013. “Major Challenges for China’s Floating Population and Policy Suggestions: An Analysis of the 2010 Population Census.” Population Research37:17–24.
26.
EdwardsA. C.UretaM.. 2003. “International Migration, Remittances, and Schooling: Evidence from El Salvador.” Journal of Development Economics72(2):429–61.
27.
GaoY.LiL. P.KimJ. H.CongdonN.LauJ.GriffithsS.. 2010. “The Impact of Parental Migration on Health Status and Health Behaviours among Left behind Adolescent School Children in China.” BMC Public Health10(1):56.
28.
GiannelliG. C.MangiavacchiL.. 2010. “Children’s Schooling and Parental Migration: Empirical Evidence on the Left-behind Generation in Albania.” IZA Discussion Papers24(4888):76–92.
29.
GrögerA.ZylberbergY.. 2016. “Internal Labor Migration as a Shock Coping Strategy: Evidence from a Typhoon.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics8(2):123–53.
30.
Gyimah-BrempongK.AsieduE.. 2015. “Remittances and Investment in Education: Evidence from Ghana.” The Journal of International Trade, Economic Development and Cultural Change24(2):173–200.
31.
HainmuellerJ.2012. “Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies.” Political Analysis20(1):25–46.
32.
HansonG. H.WoodruffC.. 2003. “Emigration and Educational Attainment in Mexico.” History Reviews of New Books21(1):167–80.
33.
HartasD.2015. “Parenting for Social Mobility? Home Learning, Parental Warmth, Class and Educational Outcomes.” Journal of Education Policy30(1):21–38.
34.
HuF.2012. “Migration, Remittances, and Children’s High School Attendance: The Case of Rural China.” International Journal of Educational Development32(3):401–11.
35.
HunterL. M.LunaJ. K.NortonR. M.. 2015. “Environmental Dimensions of Migration.” Annual Review of Sociology41:377–97.
36.
IacusS. M.KingG.PorroG.. 2012. “Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching.” Political Analysis20(1):1–24.
37.
IntemannZ.KatzE.. 2014. “Migration and Children’s Schooling and Time Allocation: Evidence from El Salvador.” International Journal of Educational Development39:264–74.
38.
JingzhongY.LuP.. 2011. “Differentiated Childhoods: Impacts of Rural Labor Migration on Left-behind Children in China.” The Journal of Peasant Studies38(2):355–77.
39.
KandelW.KaoG.. 2006. “The Impact of Temporary Labor Migration on Mexican Children’s Educational Aspirations and Performance” International Migration Review35(4):1205–31.
40.
KetsetzisM.RyanB. A.AdamsG. R.. 1998. “Family Processes, Parent-child Interactions, and Child Characteristics Influencing School-based Social Adjustment.” Journal of Marriage and the Family60:374–87.
41.
KingG.NielsenR.. 2019. “Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching.” Political Analysis27(4): 435–454.
42.
KnightJ.GunatilakaR.. 2010. “Great Expectations? The Subjective Well-being of Rural–Urban Migrants in China.” World Development38(1):113–24.
43.
KoskaO. A.SayginP. Ö.ÇağatayS.Artal-TurA. J.. 2013 . “International Migration, Remittances, and the Human Capital Formation of Egyptian Children.” International Review of Economics & Finance28:38–50.
44.
LambM. E.2004. The Role of the Father in Child Development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
45.
LiangZ.2016. “China’s Great Migration and the Prospects of a More Integrated Society.” Annual Review of Sociology42:451–71.
46.
LindstromD. P.LausterN.. 2001. “Local Economic Opportunity and the Competing Risks of Internal and US Migration in Zacatecas, Mexico 1.” International Migration Review35(4):1232–56.
47.
Lopez CordovaJ. E.2005. “Globalization, Migration, and Development: The Role of Mexican Migrant Remittances.” Economia6(1):217–56.
48.
LuY.2012. “Education of Children Left behind in Rural China.” Journal of Marriage Family Relations74(2):328–41.
49.
LuY.TreimanD. J.. 2011. “Migration, Remittances and Educational Stratification among Blacks in Apartheid and Post-apartheid South Africa.” Social Forces89(89):1119–43.
50.
LuY.YeungJ. W.-J.LiuJ.TreimanD. J.. 2019. “Migration and Children’s Psychosocial Development in China: When and Why Migration Matters.” Social Science Research77:130–47.
51.
MasseyD. S.ArangoJ.HugoG.KouaouciA.PellegrinoA.TaylorJ. E.. 1993. “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal.” Population and Development Review19(3):431–66. doi:10.2307/2938462.
52.
MazzucatoV.SchansD.. 2011. “Transnational Families and the Well-being of Children: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges.” Journal of Marriage and the Family73(4):704–12.
53.
MckenzieD.RapoportH.. 2006. “Can Migration Reduce Educational Attainment ? Evidence from Mexico.” Journal of Population Economics24(4):1331–58.
54.
NguyenC. V.2016. “Does Parental Migration Really Benefit Left-behind Children? Comparative Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam.” Social Science Medicine153:230–39.
55.
OsterE.2019. “Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence.” Journal of Business & Economic Statistics37(2):187–204.
56.
ParcelT. L.MenaghanE. G.. 1994. “Early Parental Work, Family Social Capital, and Early Childhood Outcomes.” American Journal of Sociology99(4):972–1009.
57.
ParkerF. L.BoakA. Y.GriffinK. W.RippleC.PeayL.. 1999. “Parent-child Relationship, Home Learning Environment, and School Readiness.” School Psychology Review28(3):413–25.
58.
PengY.WongO. M.. 2013. “Diversified Transnational Mothering via Telecommunication: Intensive, Collaborative, and Passive.” Gender & Society27(4):491–513.
59.
PettitG. S.BatesJ. E.DodgeK. A.. 1997. “Supportive Parenting, Ecological Context, and Children’s Adjustment: A Seven-year Longitudinal Study.” Child Development68(5):908–23.
60.
PonnetK.Van LeeuwenK.WoutersE.. 2014. “Examining Mediating Pathways between Financial Stress of Mothers and Fathers and Problem Behaviour in Adolescents.” Journal of Family Studies20(1):66–78.
61.
RapoportH.DocquierF.. 2006. “The Economics of Migrants’ Remittances.” Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity2:1135–98.
62.
RözerJ. J.BrashearsM. E.. 2018. “Partner Selection and Social Capital in the Status Attainment Process.” Social Science Research73:63–79.
63.
RubinD. B.2006. Matched Sampling for Causal Effects. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
64.
SarmaV. J.ParinduriR. A.. 2016. “What Happens to Children’s Education When Their Parents Emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka.” International Journal of Educational Development46:94–102.
65.
ShenW.HuL.-C.HannumE.. 2021. “Effect Pathways of Informal Family Separation on Children’s Outcomes: Paternal Labor Migration and Long-term Educational Attainment of Left-behind Children in Rural China.” Social Science Research97:102576.
66.
SrivastavaV. K.GilesD. E.. 2020. Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations Models: Estimation and Inference. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
67.
StarkO.BloomD. E.. 1985. “The New Economics of Labor Migration.” The American Economic Review75(2):173–78. Retrieved December6, 2015 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1805591).
68.
StarkO.TaylorJ. E.. 1991. “Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation.” The Economic Journal101(408):1163–78. doi:10.2307/2234433.
69.
SuS.LiX.LinD.XuX.ZhuM.. 2013. “Psychological Adjustment among Left-behind Children in Rural China: The Role of Parental Migration and Parent–child Communication.” Child: Care, Health and Development39(2):162–70.
70.
ThapaS.AcharyaS.. 2017. “Remittances and Household Expenditure in Nepal: Evidence from Cross-section Data.” Economies5(2):16.
71.
TongY.LuoW.PiotrowskiM.. 2015. “The Association between Parental Migration and Childhood Illness in Rural China.” European Journal of Population31(5):561–86.
72.
TübbickeS.2022. “Entropy Balancing for Continuous Treatments.” Journal of Econometric Methods11(1):71–89.
73.
TudgeJ. R.MokrovaI.HatfieldB. E.KarnikR. B.. 2009. “Uses and Misuses of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory of Human Development.” Journal of Family Theory & Review1(4):198–210.
74.
WangS. X.2014. “The Effect of Parental Migration on the Educational Attainment of Their Left-behind Children in Rural China: The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy.” B E Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy14(3):1037–80.
75.
WuQ.LuD.KangM. J. S.. 2015. “Social Capital and the Mental Health of Children in Rural China with Different Experiences of Parental Migration.” Social Science & Medicine132:270–77.
76.
XuH.XieY.. 2015. “The Causal Effects of Rural-to Migration on Children’s Well-being in China.” European Sociological Review31(4):502–19.
77.
YangD.2008. “International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks.” Economic Journal118(528):591–630.
78.
YangD.ParkA.. 2006. “Migration, Remittance and Poverty Reduction.” Pp. 12–35 in Labor Migration in Transition China, edited by FangC.NanshengB.. Beijing, China: Social Sciences Academic Press.
79.
YangG.BansakC.. 2020. “Does Wealth Matter? An Assessment of China’s Rural-urban Migration on the Education of Left-behind Children.” China Economic Review59:101365.
80.
YeungW. J.LinverM. R.Brooks-GunnJ.. 2002. “How Money Matters for Young Children’s Development: Parental Investment and Family Processes.” Child Development73(6):1861–79.
81.
YiZ.1986. “Changes in Family Structure in China: A Simulation Study.” Population and Development Review12:675–703.
82.
ZhangJ.HuangJ.WangJ.GuoL.. 2020. “Return Migration and Hukou Registration Constraints in Chinese Cities.” China Economic Review63:101498.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
