| 主讲人简介： | Jipeng Zhang is Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Economics, Shandong University. He is a Distinguished Young Scholar of Shandong University and Chief Expert of Major Projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh, and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from Fudan University. He previously held academic positions at Nanyang Technological University and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. His main research fields cover public economics, migration and economic development. |
| 讲座简介： | Leveraging a novel wave of data from the China Household Finance Survey, we document that the majority of cross-prefecture migrants eventually returned to their hometowns, with family and retirement-related concerns being the predominant motivation. To analyze the economic consequences of "return migration", we build a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model that features multiple migration decisions throughout a lifecycle. The migration decisions hinge on wage differentials, the pension system, access to public goods, and attachments to one's hometown. We find that the institutional barriers that "forced" the migrants to return home slowed down the pace of urbanization, reduced aggregate output and welfare, and exacerbated spatial inequality in China. Moreover, incorporating return migration in spatial models could alter how the economy responds to economic shocks such as migration and trade liberalization, as well as the effects of place-based policies. |
