The Causal Factors Underlying the Unwillingness of Farm Laborers’ Migration to Towns: a Case Study of Yunnan Province

School of Economics and Management, Southwest Forestry University, 650224 Kunming, China

Abstract

Farmers’ settling down in small towns is not only a process of identity-changing, i.e., from rural population into urban population, but also a process of institutional change. At present, China’s urbanization rate is 52.57%. However, in reality, the farm laborers do not often hold a positive and active view about migrating to the towns permanently. Statistics show that in 6 counties in Yunnan Shangri-La, Xishuangbanna, Lijiang border areas and 5 central Yunnan counties, the non-agricultural household staff does not grow very rapidly. By analyzing a lot of underlying factors, this paper finds that influential factors for the transformation of rural population to towns may vary, mainly including factors such as fewer jobs, the issue of rural land use, the poor quality of education, higher level of living standard, and also puts forward some solutions accordingly.