Young women in cities: Urbanization and gender-biased migration

• Main Authors: KOH, Yumi, JING, Li, WU, Yifan, YI, Junjian, ZHANG, Hanzhe
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2025
• Subjects: Gender imbalance; Marriage market; Migration; Urbanization; Asian Studies; Demography, Population, and Ecology; Labor Economics; Urban Studies
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2768; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3767/viewcontent/YoungWomenCities_sv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Young women outnumber young men in cities in many countries during periods of economic growth and urbanization. This gender imbalance among young urbanites is more pronounced in larger cities. We use the gradual rollout of Special Economic Zones across China as a quasi-experiment to establish the causal impact of urbanization on gender-differentiated incentives to migrate. We highlight the role of the marriage market in increasing rural women’s chance of marrying and marrying up in urban areas during rapid urbanization.