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Summary statistics are presented in Table 1, which shows that 59% of workers in our sample are rural migrant workers. This share is almost twice as large as the proportion of rural migrant workers in the manufacturing sector nationally (31%) (NBSC 2017). However, this is likely because there is variation in the share of migrant workers in the manufacturing sector across provinces. As reported in Table 2, there is even considerable variation in the share of rural migrant workers employed in the manufacturing sector between our two sample provinces. Specifically, we find that 69.4% of sample workers in Guangdong province are rural migrant workers, while rural migrant workers only account for 47.3% of the sample workers in Hubei province.

Table 1. 
Summary Statistics
VariablesNumberMeanStandard DeviationMinimumMaximum
Rural migrant 7,799 0.59 0.49 
Monthly earnings in 2015 (CNY) 7,799 4,997 4,328 1,000 86,667 
Hourly earnings in 2015 (CNY) 7,799 24.27 22.68 3.32 388.52 
Weekly working hours 7,799 51 11.58 112 
Male 7,799 0.56 0.50 
Age 7,799 37.09 9.44 17 72 
Years of schooling 7,799 11.80 2.99 22 
Junior high school or below 7,799 0.34 0.47 
High school or vocational high school 7,799 0.37 0.48 
Vocational college or above 7,799 0.29 0.45 
State-owned enterprises 7,799 0.09 0.28 
Hubei 7,799 0.47 0.50 
VariablesNumberMeanStandard DeviationMinimumMaximum
Rural migrant 7,799 0.59 0.49 
Monthly earnings in 2015 (CNY) 7,799 4,997 4,328 1,000 86,667 
Hourly earnings in 2015 (CNY) 7,799 24.27 22.68 3.32 388.52 
Weekly working hours 7,799 51 11.58 112 
Male 7,799 0.56 0.50 
Age 7,799 37.09 9.44 17 72 
Years of schooling 7,799 11.80 2.99 22 
Junior high school or below 7,799 0.34 0.47 
High school or vocational high school 7,799 0.37 0.48 
Vocational college or above 7,799 0.29 0.45 
State-owned enterprises 7,799 0.09 0.28 
Hubei 7,799 0.47 0.50 

CNY = Chinese yuan.

Notes: Rural migrant workers are those who work in manufacturing (nonagriculture sector) and have a rural hukou. Monthly earnings include both wages and bonuses; hourly earnings are measured by dividing the monthly earnings measure by average hours worked per month.

Source: Authors’ calculations.

Table 2. 
Percentage of Rural Migrants among Different Types of Firm Ownership and Provinces
Rural Migrant
Number%
Ownership   
Non-SOEs 4,432 62.3 
SOEs 175 25.4 
Province   
Guangdong 2,883 69.4 
Hubei 1,724 47.3 
Total 4,607 59.1 
Rural Migrant
Number%
Ownership   
Non-SOEs 4,432 62.3 
SOEs 175 25.4 
Province   
Guangdong 2,883 69.4 
Hubei 1,724 47.3 
Total 4,607 59.1 

SOE = state-owned enterprise.

Notes: Rural migrant workers are those who work in manufacturing (nonagriculture sector) and have a rural hukou.

Source: Authors’ calculations.

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