Which Types of Public Services Matter? The Impact of Access to Public Services on the Urban Settlement Intention of Migrants in China

Abstract

This study examined which migrants accessed four types of urban public services including housing support, medical insurance, health records, and residence permits, and investigated the relative impacts of such accessibility of public services on the urban settlement intention of migrants. Using the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data in 2017, our results show that migrants have selective access to public services in urban China. That is, migrants with a higher socioeconomic status (in their prime working years, with higher household income and educational attainments) are more likely to access urban public services. Then we find that such multiple public services all have positive but different effects on migrants' settlement intention, after eliminating bias due to the selective accessibility of migrants by propensity score matching analysis. The magnitude of the estimated effects of housing support and medical insurance is considerably higher than residence permits and health records.