Research On The Impact Of Peer Effect On The Citizenization Of Migrant Workers

In the process of China’s new urbanization construction and household registration system reform,the urban settlement conditions are gradually decreasing.The barriers of the traditional dual structure are gradually being broken,which is of great significance for accelerating the process of citizenization.In 2019,the scale of migrant workers in China has reached 291 million,while the urbanization rate of the registered population is only 44.38%.They have completed their career changes,but they have not yet realized the transformation from farmers to citizens.A large group of migrant workers have made important contributions to economic development,and their "go-stay" problem in cities has become a hot spot of social concern.In the process of urban-rural integration and development,the government encourages migrant workers to be urbanized locally,which makes them own willingness to become a key to accelerating the process of citizenization.Therefore,this study focuses on the migrant workers’ willingness to urbanize.Existing studies mostly analyze the factors that increase the urbanization of migrant workers from the perspectives of policy environment,individual characteristics,and cognition.Few scholars conduct research based on the reality of China’s "acquaintance society".They pay little attention to the impact of peer effects.Based on the reality that the scale of migrant workers is large and the level of citizenship is low,this study adds the moderating variable of social interaction type from the perspective of peers in social networks,and explores the mechanism of peer effect influencing migrant workers’ urbanization.At the same time,the residence time is included in the analysis framework of the peer effect affecting citizenization,and analyzed the specific changes in the peer effect over time.Based on the analysis of the 2011-2019 "Migrant Workers Monitoring and Investigation Report" and the China Migrants Dynamic Survey(CMDS2017),the following conclusions are drawn:(1)The scale of migrant workers in China is huge,but the overall level of citizenization needs to be improved.In 2019,the number of them reached 291 million,an increase of 2.41 million over 2018.However,the urbanization rate of the registered population was only 44.38%,and about 147 million migrant workers didn’t settle in cities.(2)With the increase in local residence time of migrant workers,the interaction ratio between migrant workers and citizens has gradually increased.Among them,the interaction ratio of migrant workers who have stayed for more than 10 years with citizens has reached 35.33%,which is significantly higher than that of local migrant workers who have stayed for 0-10 years.(3)There is a peer effect in the process of migrant workers’ citizenization.Peer’s choice of citizenship will positively promote migrant workers’ citizenship decision-making.This feature is especially reflected in the older generation of migrant workers.From the results of the benchmark Probit model and the IV Probit model,the peer effect coefficients are both significantly positive at the 1% level.The peer effect coefficient after the endogenous treatment drops from 0.463 to 0.250,indicating that the IV Probit model can more truly reflect the influence of the peer effect.Group regression found that the peer effect of the old and new generation groups also has a significant positive impact,and the peer effect has a greater impact on the older generation of migrant workers.(4)The type of social interaction can change the strength of the peer effect.The study found that interacting with heterogeneous social networks can enhance the promotion of peer effect.By interacting with heterogeneous network members,the estrangement with the citizens can be reduced,and the confidence of the city’s integration can be increased.Further enhance the positive effect of the peer effect on the urbanization of migrant workers.Interaction with a homogeneous social network will weaken the positive impact of the peer effect.Frequent social interactions with homogeneous networks tend to create a sense of distance from the city,and excessive emphasis on the pressure of urban life is not conducive to the transformation of migrant workers into the city.Then weaken the positive effect of the peer effect.(5)The increase in local residence time will strengthen the influence of the peer effect.The results show that the peer effect coefficient of migrant workers who have stayed locally for more than 10 years is 0.283,which is significantly higher than the regression results of the other two groups,indicating that the longer the stay,the stronger the peer effect on migrant workers’ urbanization.Based on the above conclusions,this study puts forward corresponding policy recommendations: First,we must attach importance to the development of community functions and increase the heterogeneous social interaction of migrant workers,especially the older generation of migrant workers.The community should play a role of publicity and guidance to reduce the discrimination and prejudice of local residents against the migrant worker group.The community should encourage migrant workers to step out of their comfort zone and take the initiative to participate in community activities.This can reduce the social distance between them and the locals and ease the psychological pressure of their urban life.Second,it is necessary to improve the labor force information transmission platform and strengthen the skill training of migrant workers.The government should establish effective communication bridges between enterprises and migrant workers to reduce the employment costs caused by information asymmetry.At the same time,we must make good use of the advantages of online and offline dual-channel publicity.In addition to traditional offline job fairs,the promotion of employment promotion and skills training on new media platforms should also be strengthened.In terms of improving the skills of migrant workers,encourage migrant workers to participate in targeted employment skills training.This can increase the degree of matching and professionalism between individuals and positions,and enhance the economic capacity of urbanization.Third,policy making should pay attention to differences between generations.Although the government has formulated relevant support policies,but the implementation of the policy cannot be one size fits all.We must pay attention to the intergenerational differences of migrant workers,and formulate differentiated policies for the old and new generation groups to meet the real needs of migrant workers in different generations.Only in this way can it be more conducive to accelerating the process of urbanization of migrant workers and conducive to the construction of a new type of urbanization.Finally,it is necessary to pay more attention to the local residence time of migrant workers and enhance the positive impact of peer effect on citizenship.While guaranteeing the social pension,social medical care,education of children,public employment,basic housing,etc.for migrant workers,preferential policies can be given priority to migrant workers who have stayed here for a long time.This can reduce their urban life pressure,encourage migrant workers to work in cities for a long time,and reduce the return of migrant workers.