城市规模如何影响农民工的社会融合:非正规就业组与正规就业组的比较分析

How urban size affects the social integration of migrant workers:A comparative analysis of informal and formal employment

农民工的社会融合是新型城镇化建设的重要任务。针对现有研究对不同城市规模与农民工社会融合关系认识的不足,本文基于2017年全国流动人口动态监测调查数据,运用多元线性回归、中介效应和马尔科夫链蒙特卡洛法,在考虑非正规就业和正规就业差异的基础上,揭示了城市规模因素对农民工社会融合的影响机制。研究发现:(1)城市规模越大,农民工的社会融合度越低,其中在居住条件、社会交往融合方面,城市规模产生的阻滞效应最大;但城市规模对农民工的经济融合有促进作用,反映了大城市的经济吸引力。(2)城市规模对非正规就业组和正规就业组的影响存在不平等效应,城市规模对非正规农民工的社会、心理、文化方面的融合产生的阻滞作用更大,对其经济融合的促进作用却较小。(3)居留意愿和落户意愿削弱了城市规模对农民工社会融合的直接负效应,且在正规就业群体中的削弱效应更大,表明农民工在城市居留或落户的渴望有助于激发他们融入城市的行为,且这种激发作用在正规就业群体中更强。应当制定有助于增强农民工居留和落户意愿的政策,并重视非正规农民工在社会融合过程中的相对弱势。

The social integration of migrant workers in cities is an important task in theconstruction of new-type urbanization in China.In response to the insufficient understanding ofthe relationship between different urban sizes and the social integration of migrant workers inexisting research,this paper reveals the impact of the urban size factor on social integration ofurban migrant workers with considering the difference between informal and formalemployment.It uses the methods of multiple linear regression,mediation effect model,andMarkov chain Monte Carlo based on the data from 2017 National Dynamic Monitoring Surveyof Floating Population.Main findings are summarized as follows.First,the larger the urbansize,the lower the social integration of migrant workers in cities,especially in terms of theintegration of living conditions and social interaction,on which the urban size has the biggesthindering effects.However,urban size has a promoting effect on the economic integration ofmigrant workers,reflecting the economic attractiveness of big cities.Second,urban size hasuneven effects on the social integration of informal and formal workers.Urban size generates agreater hindering effect on the social,psychological,and cultural integration of informal migrantworkers than their formal counterparts,but a smaller promoting effect on their economicintegration.Third,migrant workers'desire to reside and settle in cities weakens the directnegative effect of urban size on their social integration,and this weakening effect is greater inthe formal employment group.This indicates that migrant workers'desire to reside or settle inthe destination city plays a role in stimulating their social integration and that the stimulatingeffect is stronger for formal workers than the informal.It is suggested that the policies shouldbe made to stimulate and enhance the desire of migrant workers to reside and settle in citieswith giving weight to informal workers due to their relative disadvantage in the socialintegration.This study supports the policy of gradually deregulating hukou(householdregistration)restrictions in cities as it contributes to enhancing migrant workers'willingness tosettle down and improving their social integration.Although people face high competition inbig cities and not everybody is able to settle,this does not prevent cities from becoming placesor space of hope where everyone can see the hope of settling and realize his/her aspiration for abetter life.