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The labor market outcomes of jurisdictional consolidation: Evidence from city–county mergers in China

Shiyu Bo & Yi Wang

Journal of Urban Economics2025https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2025.103788article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.52

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the labor market outcomes of jurisdictional consolidation, focusing on the effect of city–county mergers in China between 2011 and 2018 on the wages of migrant workers and local residents. Under the merger reform, city districts were consolidated with nearby counties, expanding the jurisdiction under the centralized control of the prefecture government. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach, we find that wages increased by 3.1% for migrant workers and 10.4% for local residents in consolidated jurisdictions. We attribute these effects to local economic growth and the resulting differentiated labor demand for migrant and local workers.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2025.103788

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@article{shiyu2025,
  title        = {{The labor market outcomes of jurisdictional consolidation: Evidence from city–county mergers in China}},
  author       = {Shiyu Bo & Yi Wang},
  journal      = {Journal of Urban Economics},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2025.103788},
}

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The labor market outcomes of jurisdictional consolidation: Evidence from city–county mergers in China

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Evidence weight

0.52

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.47 × 0.4 = 0.19
M · momentum0.68 × 0.15 = 0.10
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.