Educational opportunity and children's migration: Evidence from China's Gaokao reform for children of migrant families

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of the Gaokao reform on children's migration. The reform relaxes the Hukou restrictions in the Gaokao system, allowing eligible migrant children to take the Gaokao in the destination province and be admitted to higher education institutions based on the same criteria as local students. Using the CMDS 2011–2017 dataset and the difference-in-differences approach, we find that the reform significantly increases children's migration probability; the positive effect is weaker in provinces with more stringent requirements. While Gaokao reform does not affect parents’ decisions of cross-province migration or destination of migration, parents’ extend their migration duration.