We examine the role of social networks in job-related migration. With over 130 million rural labors
migrating to the city each year, China is experiencing the largest internal migration in the human history.
Based on the 2006 China Agricultural Census, we show that individual migration decisions vary greatly
across villages; but migrants from the same village tend to cluster in the same destination and occupation.
After using China’s one-child policy as instruments for neighbor migration, we conclude that the clustered
migration is most likely driven by same-origin villagers helping each other in moving cost and job
search at the destination.


Yuyu Chen
Guanghua School of Management and IEPR
Peking University
Beijing, China
chenyuyu@gsm.pku.edu.cn


Ginger Zhe Jin
University of Maryland
Department of Economics
3105 Tydings Hall
College Park, MD 20742-7211
and NBER
jin@econ.umd.edu


Yang Yue
Guanghua School of Management
Peking University
Beijing, China 100871
shananyueyang@gmail.com