风险规避、社会资本对农民工务工距离的影响

The Effect of Risk Aversion and Social Capital on the Working Distance of Migrant Workers

社会资本是影响农民工务工距离的重要因素,而风险规避与社会资本存在较强的相关性,不考虑这一相关性会导致社会资本对务工距离影响的估计结果产生较大偏误。本文选择农民工所在家族外出务工人数和家族是否有祠堂两个指标来衡量社会资本,利用实验经济学的方法测度农民工的风险规避程度,并将两者同时引入有序Probit模型,基于全国8省24县的农户调查数据,分析了风险规避和社会资本对农民工务工距离的影响。研究结果表明:风险规避程度越强的农民工,其务工距离越近;外出务工具有"同群效应",农民工所在家族外出务工人数越多,其远距离务工的概率越高;家族祠堂具有"社会网络效应",家族有祠堂的农民工倾向于远距离务工。

Social capital is an important factor that influences the working distance of migrant workers. Previous studies show a strong correlation between risk aversion and social capital. Without considering this correlation, the estimated effect of social capital on the working distance may be in error. This article use the experimental economics method to measure the degree of risk aversion, and chooses two variables to measure social capital, namely, the number of family members working outside and whether there is a clan ancestral hall. The study employs an ordered probit model to analyze the effect of risk aversion and social capital on the working distance of migrant workers, based on rural survey data from 24 counties. Empirical results show that the higher the degree of risk aversion is, the shorter the working distance is. Moreover, working outside of the hometown shows a peer effect, which means the migrant workers whose clan has more migrant workers prefer long-distance employment-related migration. Furthermore, the existence of a clan ancestral hall demonstrates a social network effect, which means the migrant workers whose families have an ancestral hall prefer long-distance employment-related migration.