【题  目】Moving to Opportunity: The Effects of the Targeted Poverty Alleviation Relocation Program in China

【时  间】2021年10月20日（星期三），14:30-16:00

【地  点】腾讯会议 ID：666 468 222

【主讲人】张力 博士研究生（香港中文大学经济学系）

摘要

Aiming at poverty alleviation by improving neighborhood conditions, housing assistance policies have been widely implemented worldwide. However, empirical studies yield mixed findings on the effects. This paper studies the Targeted Poverty Alleviation relocation program in China by developing a conceptual framework that considers the relocation as a switch from agricultural to non-agricultural sectors. Exploring a novel administrative data set on impoverished people in a county in China, we find that the program increased the participants' income and labor supply compared to other impoverished households that did not participate. Evidence from multiple empirical strategies validates the causality of the estimated effects. Further, we find heterogeneity in the program effect: only public housing generated significant increases in labor supply and household income, and the program was more helpful to those who were more competitive in the labor market. The heterogeneity in treatment effects is consistent with our theoretical predictions from the conceptual framework. Finally, we reconcile previous findings of housing assistance policies with a growing literature that attests to a positive neighborhood effect. The results imply that relocation partially eliminates a mismatch in the labor market by providing more opportunities for competitive individuals.

报告人简介

张力，香港中文大学在读博士研究生。张力的研究兴趣涉及劳动经济学、发展经济学领域，曾在《经济研究》、《经济学动态》、《探索与争鸣》、《比较》等期刊发表学术论文。