The Urbanization of Rural China—— How the Clan Culture Affects the Settlement Intentions of Rural Migrants

The rural feature in traditional China,defined by Fei Xiaotong,does not vanish with industrialization and urbanization,and it profoundly influences the migration of the rural population.By matching the density of ancestral temples in counties obtained from GaodeMap with the China Migrants Dynamic Survey of 2017,we examine how clan culture hinders urbanization in China.We find that the rural migrants from places with a higher density of ancestral temples report a lower willingness to stay in the cities.The effect is quite robust in different cohorts and schooling year groups,and it is more significant among the rural migrants going beyond broader boundaries.The clan culture will drive the rural migrants to return to their hometowns and connect with villagers more frequently; it meanwhile deters the rural migrants from integrating into the city.However,the effect will be attenuated as the rural migrants leave their hometowns and enter the cities at a younger age.Accordingly,the clan culture impedes the stable migration of the rural population,but allowing the rural migrants to enter the cities as young as possible can remove the cultural barrier of the urbanization in China.