Employers as landlords for rural-to-urban migrants in Chinese cities

Abstract

In Chinese cities, employer-provided housing has played an important part in accommodating low-income, rural-to-urban migrants. Employer housing is often used to study other problems such as management style or worker psychology. In this paper we intend to examine employer-provided housing for its own sake. We use two surveys in the cities of Taiyuan and Tianjin in China to understand the reasons why Chinese employers want to provide housing for employees, the conditions of this type of housing and whether workers are satisfied with it. In doing so, we may identify areas that suffer from serious market failure and will discuss possible solutions to the problems.

City economic development, housing availability, and migrants' settlement intentions: Evidence from China

“…Migrants were excluded from equal access to urban public goods, such as education, medical care, housing, and social security. Therefore, previous studies have largely attributed the low growth of the permanently settled population to the restriction of the hukou system (Li & Duda, 2010;Logan et al, 2009). Migrants are regarded as sojourners and have to continually move back and forth between the host city and their hometown (Tao et al, 2015).…”

“…Previous studies focused on the household registration system (hukou), which was established in the 1950s, as a key constraint of migrants' settlement because the hukou system prevents migrants from obtaining equal rights, such as employment, health care, and education, to those of local hukou holders in the host city (Li & Duda, 2010;Logan, Fang, & Zhang, 2009). However, many scholars have proved that the effect of the hukou system is weakening along with its ongoing reform (Tao, Hui, Wong, & Chen, 2015;Yang & Guo, 2018).…”

Migration up and down the urban hierarchy: The mediating effects of geographic mobility on migrants' homeownership

“…Studies have pointed out that individuals originating from developed regions achieve higher social status and are more likely to become homeowners in the destination city than those originating from less-developed regions (Borjas, 2002;Painter et al, 2003). Meanwhile, as we mentioned above, migrants are more likely to confront economic and institutional disadvantages when they migrate to bigger cities, hindering them from becoming homeowners (Li & Duda, 2010;Fan, 2002;W. Wu & Wang, 2014).…”

“…Studies have pointed out that individuals originating from developed regions achieve higher social status and are more likely to become homeowners in the destination city than those originating from less‐developed regions (Borjas, 2002; J. Cui et al, 2022; Painter et al, 2003). Meanwhile, as we mentioned above, migrants are more likely to confront economic and institutional disadvantages when they migrate to bigger cities, hindering them from becoming homeowners (Li & Duda, 2010; Fan, 2002; W. Wu & Wang, 2014). Thus, it can be assumed that the larger the gap between the place of origin and the destination in terms of social and economic development, the greater the difficulty of migrants entering the housing market in the destination city.…”

Housing for talents: Highly skilled migrants’ strategies for accessing affordable rental housing

“…Moreover, rising rent levels and housing prices in larger cities have further exacerbated these conditions (Logan et al, 2009; Wu, 2004). Consequently, a majority of low-skilled migrants encountered difficulties in escaping their ‘floating status’ and had to adopt a ‘saving orientation’ to minimise housing expenses (Li and Duda, 2010).…”