Migration in China: Methodological and Policy Challenges

Abstract

Migration has long been recognized as an important mechanism for allowing populations to adjust to changing economic conditions (Goldstein and Goldstein, 1981; Findley, 1977, 1982). Massive population movements from rural to urban locations were an integral part of the European modernization process, as were movements to hitherto undeveloped frontier regions including ones overseas. Rapid urban growth, due in part to migration, has more recently characterized many of the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.