Abstract

Since 1958, the Chinese household registration system, known in English as the hukou system (户口), has limited the ability of Chinese citizens to move from one area of the country to another. Under the hukou system, Chinese citizens who move from rural areas to urban areas are prevented from accessing many benefits that are available to their urban-registered peers, including education for their children. This prevents people from relocating to areas where they would be the most economically productive, and in turn contributes to economic and social inequality. The hukou system is also inconsistent with the obligations set forth by international human rights treaties, which China has ratified or may ratify in the future. This article will suggest that a new category of hukou registration could be created to enable migration to urban areas, promoting a gradual transition to urban registration. This new category, which I call the ‘hybrid hukou’ registration, would increase China’s economic productivity, decrease inequality, and enhance human rights in China. The ‘hybrid hukou’ registration would also give Chinese cities time to adjust to the influx of newcomers, which would likely result from greater mobility.


I. Introduction

Philosophers have long considered restrictions on labor mobility to be both economically inefficient and socially unjust. In 1776, Adam Smith criticized the poor law, which was in effect in England at the time, because it restricted the ability of English laborers to move from one parish to another in search of work. In 1899, Vladimir Lenin, a man who disagreed with Adam Smith over many issues, criticized laws in Tsarist Russia that prevented Russian muzhiks (мужик, i.e., peasants) from migrating in an attempt to seek employment from “the employer who [gave] the greatest advantage.” These laws meant that muzhiks could be taken advantage of by employers who set up factories in rural areas to exploit cheap labor. It is, therefore, ironic that China, a country with a Constitution that extols the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and whose leaders who approvingly cite Adam Smith’s moral philosophy, heavily restricts the mobility rights of its citizens.

Since 1958, the hukou dengji tiaoli (户口登记条例), China’s household registration regulation system, known as the hukou, has made it difficult for Chinese citizens to move from one area of China to another. Hukou registrations are enforced across China in different cities, towns, and rural areas. In order to access many social services, such as education, housing, and healthcare, a Chinese citizen must have a valid hukou registration for the area in which they live. The greatest divide created by the hukou system is between people with hukou registrations in urban areas, who can live in the city and access social services there, and those who have registrations in rural areas, who have the right to farm land but cannot access urban services. These restrictions on labor mobility exacerbate labor shortages in economically dynamic urban areas. The hukou also increases inequality across China, as the hukou registration makes it much more difficult for people with rural hukou registrations to enjoy the social and career opportunities created in cities. In practice, the hukou system also violates international human rights treaties, which China has ratified or may ratify in the future.

In the summer of 2014, The Chinese Government announced several reforms to the hukou system that will eliminate the distinction between urban and rural hukou holders in small cities. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the reforms will lead to real improvements. This article will examine some of the proposed reforms and will explain why the consequences are likely to disappoint. It will then suggest new reforms, centered on the introduction of a new form of hukou registration called the hybrid hukou. Ultimately, if China wishes to close the gap between its urban and rural citizens, it must do so in a way that neither unfettered market forces nor heavy-handed government regulation dominates the process of human migration. Rather, China should introduce a system that gives migrants time to determine whether they wish to someday return to their rural homes or become fully urban.

This article will discuss some academic perspectives relating to the hukou system. It will then discuss the newly-announced reforms. It will proceed to explain why increasing labor mobility is necessary to improve China’s economic performance, reduce inequalities, and improve human rights. It will then look to other countries for examples of attempts to increase labor mobility, including the experience of England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as the experiences of modern developing countries. This examination will provide insight into a possible system China could chose to adopt.