The Role of Internet Use in Internal Migration: Evidence From China.

With the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), there has been a growing interest in the effect of the internet on internal migration. This study contributes to the emerging literature by exploring the relationship between internet use and internal migration at diffe...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Population Space & Place Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
Autores principales: Li, Yuyao, Huang, Youqin
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jan2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=191137967&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 191137967
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        15448444
        1CA3
      jtl: Population Space & Place
      issn: 15448444
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Jan2026
      vid: 32
      iid: 1
      pid: 480
      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
    artinfo:
      ui:
        191137967
        10.1002/psp.70178
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 17
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: The Role of Internet Use in Internal Migration: Evidence From China.
      aug:
        au:
          Li, Yuyao
          Huang, Youqin
        affil:
          School of Urban Economics and Public Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China
          Department of Geography, Planning and Sustainability, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany NY,, USA
      su:
        China
        Internal migration
        Information & communication technologies
        Social networks
        Social science research
        Internet access
        Chinese people
      sug:
        subj:
          Internal migration
          Information & communication technologies
          Social networks
          Social science research
          Internet access
          China
          Other Individual and Family Services
          Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities
          Chinese people
      keyword:
        Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
        internet
        migration
        Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
        internet
        migration
      ab: With the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), there has been a growing interest in the effect of the internet on internal migration. This study contributes to the emerging literature by exploring the relationship between internet use and internal migration at different spatial scales in contemporary China. Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we find that internet use facilitates long‐distance inter‐provincial migration, a result robust to individual fixed effects and instrumental variable estimations. In contrast, no significant effect is observed for short‐distance inter‐county migration. Further analyses show that the duration of internet use has a positive non‐linear effect on inter‐provincial migration with diminishing marginal effects. Moreover, the impact of different online activities is also heterogeneous: frequent engagement in socializing and entertainment activities significantly facilitates inter‐provincial migration, while study, work, and e‐transaction activities show no significant impact. Consistent with this, latent class analysis (LCA) of respondents' internet use behaviors indicates that the latent class, "work users", shows no significant difference from non‐internet users on migration, whereas "hyper‐users", "leisure users", and "inactive‐users" exhibit a significantly higher likelihood of migrating. Finally, the analysis of potential channels elucidates how internet use influences migration through information acquisition and the strengthening of family ties. This study contributes to the growing body of literature by providing new insights into the role of internet use and technology in general in internal migration from a micro‐level perspective.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N