Abstract: | This paper examines interprovincial migration in the People's Republic of China (PRC) during 1982–87 when China was going through economic restructuring. Chinese migration patterns bear some resemblances as well as dissimilarities with those generally observed in Western societies. In China, the age-specific migration rate does not vary much until the preretirement stage. Return to places of origin is obviously the most plausible explanation of Chinese migration patterns. In addition, a clear-cut gender gap exists, higher than that imagined in Western societies. Chinese women appear far behind Chinese men in their propensity to migrate, and the determinants of migration are quite different for Chinese women and Chinese men. |