This paper aims to contribute to the theorisation of the expectations for the future life (EFL) of floating people whose household registration books ( hukou ) are not registered locally in China’s mega-cities. Although the EFL of many rur al-urban migrants is explicit, the EFL type of other floating cohorts suc h as educated migrants and the formation mechanism of EFL of floating people are much less well understood. We argue that EFL is a person’s pre-judgment or es timation of living conditions in the future based on his/her perc eption of current human well-being or utility of life and its main concern is whethe r he/she expects to live in the mega-city in the future. Based on the social production functions (SPF) theory, three types of EFL for floating population are identified by using data collected from in-depth interviews with 30 Beijing’s migrants. This paper reveals that the EFL of floating population is formed by comparing their current actual utility of life with the “normative utility” in the specific life course stage, which is the life utility that people should have in their specific life course stage expected by the society. Finally, these findings are checked out that the theoretical saturation has been reached by applying another 9 copies of transcripts of interviewees.
KeywordsExpectations for the Future LifeFloating PeopleMigrantsLife Course StageUtility of LifeMega-Cities
Astuti, L. T. M., Tjiptoherijanto, P., Haeruman, H., & Koestoer, R. (2015). Model of Sustainable Wellbeing on Decent House Study Case of Bekasi City, West Java, Indonesia. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 28, 370-379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2015.07.046
Blejer, M. I., & Goldberg, I. (1980). Return Migration: Expectations versus Reality. A Case Study of Western Immigrants to Israel. Research in Population Economics, 2, 433-449.
Boneva, B. S., & Frieze, I. H. (2001). Toward a Concept of a Migrant Personality. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 477-491. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00224
Borjas, G. J., & Bratsberg, B. (1996). Who Leaves? The Outmigration of the Foreign-Born. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 165-176. https://doi.org/10.2307/2109856
Cai, R. H., Neli, E., Michael, O., & Shuaizhang, F. (2014). International Migration Desires Related to Subjective Well-Being. IZA Journal of Migration, 3, Article number: 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9039-3-8
Carr, A. J., Gibson, B., & Robinson, P. G. (2001). Measuring Quality of Life: Is Quality of Life Determined by Expectations or Experience? The British Medical Journal, 322, 1240-1243. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.322.7296.1240
Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network City. Oxford: Blackwell.
Chindarkar, N. (2014). Is Subjective Well-Being of Concern to Potential Migrants from Latin America? Social Indicators Research, 115, 159-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0213-7
Cummins, R. A. (2000). Objective and Subjective Quality of Life: An Interactive Model. Social Indicators Research, 52, 55-72. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007027822521
De Jong, G. F., Chamratrithirong, A., & Tran, Q.-G. (2002). For Better, for Worse: Life Satisfaction Consequences of Migration. International Migration Review, 36, 838-863. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00106.x
De Jong, G. F. (2000). Expectations, Gender, and Norms in Migration Decision-Making. Population Studies, 54, 307-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/713779089
Ferrans, C. E. (1996). Development of a Conceptual Model of Quality of Life. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 10, 293-304.
Furuseth, O. J., & Walcott, W. A. (1990). Defining Quality of Life in North Carolina. The Social Science Journal, 27, 75-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0362-3319(90)90011-8
Gao, W. S., & Smyth, R. (2010). Future Income Expectations and Life Satisfaction of China’s Rural Urban Migrant Workers: An Empirical Study on the Migrant Workers in Shanghai and Other Cities. Journal of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, No. 6, 21-33.
Ge, J., & Hokao, K. (2006). Research on Residential Lifestyles in Japanese Cities from the Viewpoints of Residential Preference, Residential Choice and Residential Satisfaction. Landscape and Urban Planning, 78, 165-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.07.004
Goh, J.C.-L., Pan, S. L., & Zuo, M. Y. (2013). Developing the Agile IS Development Practices in Large-Scale IT Projects: The Trust-Mediated Organizational Controls and IT Project Team Capabilities Perspectives. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 14, 722-756. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00348
Graham, C., & Markowitz, J. (2011). Aspirations and Happiness of Potential Latin American Immigrants. Journal of Social Research and Policy, 2, 9-25.
He, X. F. (2014). China’s Road of Urbanization. Beijing: Oriental Press.
Heaton, T. B., Clifford, W. B., & Fuguitt, G. V. (1981). Temporary Shifts in the Determinants of Young and Elderly Migration in Nonmetropolitan Areas. Social Forces, 60, 41-60. https://doi.org/10.2307/2577931
Hoppe, A., & Fujishiro, K. (2015). Anticipated Job Benefits, Career Aspiration, and Generalized Self-Efficacy as Predictors for Migration Decision-Making. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 47, 13-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.03.025
Hu, F., Xu, Z. Y., & Chen, Y. Y. (2011). Circular Migration, or Permanent Stay? Evidence from China’s Rural-Urban Migration. China Economic Review, 22, 64-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2010.09.007
Ivlevs, A. (2015). Happy Moves? Assessing the Link between Life Satisfaction and Emigration Intentions. Kyklos, 68, 335-356. https://doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12086
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Yijälä, A. (2011). The Model of Pre-Acculturative Stress—A Pre-Migration Study of Potential Migrants from Russia to Finland. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 499-510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.11.003
Kleiner, M. M. (1984). Metropolitan Migration and Labor Market Changes by Industry. The Annals of Regional Science, 18, 11-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01287371
Li, L. M., Li, S.-M., & Chen, Y. F. (2010). Better City, Better Life, but for Whom?: The Hukou and Resident Card System and the Consequential Citizenship Stratification in Shanghai. City, Culture and Society, 1, 145-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2010.09.003
Li, Q. (2003). An Analysis of Push and Pull Factors in the Migration of Rural Workers in China. Social Sciences in China, 1, 125-136.
Li, X. Z. (2017). The Structural Characteristics and Countermeasures of Floating Population in Beijing. Social Sciences of Beijing, 11, 4-16.
Lindenberg, S., & Frey, B. S. (1993). Alternatives, Frames, Relative Prices: A Broader View of Rational Choice Theory. Acta Sociologica, 36, 191-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/000169939303600304
Liu, B.-C. (1975). Differential Net Migration Rates and the Quality of Life. Review of Economics and Statistics, 57, 329-337. https://doi.org/10.2307/1923917
Mankiw, N. G. (2012). Economic Principles (6th Edition, Microeconomics Volume). X. M. Liang, & L. Liang (Trans.). Beijing: Peking University Press.
Moons, P., Budts, W., & De Geest, S. (2006). Critique on the Conceptualisation of Quality of Life: A Review and Evaluation of Different Conceptual Approaches. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 43, 891-901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.03.015
Morrill, R., Downing, J., & Leon, W. (1986). Attribute Preferences and the Non-Metropolitan Migration Decision. The Annals of Regional Science, 20, 33-53. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01283622
Morris, E. A. (2019). Do Cities or Suburbs Offer Higher Quality of Life? Intrametropolitan Location, Activity Patterns, Access, and Subjective Well-Being. Cities, 89, 228-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.02.012
Naugarten, B. L., & Hagestad, G. O. (1976). Age and the Life Course. In H. B. Robert, & S. Ethel (eds.), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences (pp. 35-55). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Ormel, J., Lindenberg, S., Steverink, N., & Michael, V. (1997). Quality of Life and Social Production Functions: A Framework for Understanding Health Effects. Social Science & Medicine, 45, 1051-1063. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(97)00032-4
Otrachshenko, V., & Popova, O. (2014). Life (Dis)Satisfaction and the Intention to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Socio-Economics, 48, 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2013.09.008
Pan, G., Pan, S. L., & Lim, C.-Y. (2015). Examining How Firms Leverage IT to Achieve Firm Productivity: RBV and Dynamic Capabilities Perspectives. Information & Management, 52, 401-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2015.01.001
Plane D. A., Henrie, C. J., & Perry, M. J. (2005). Migration up and down the Urban Hierarchy and across the Life Course. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 102, 15313-15318. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0507312102
Plane, D. A., & Heins, F. (2003). Age Articulation of U.S. Inter-Metropolitan Migration Flows. The Annals of Regional Science, 37, 107-130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001680200114
Porell, F. W. (1982). Intermetropolitan Migration and Quality of Life. Journal of Regional Science, 22, 137-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9787.1982.tb00741.x
Siggelkow, N. (2007). Persuasion with Case Studies. The Academy of Management Journal, 50, 20-24. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160882
Speare, A., Korbin, J. F., & Kingkade, W. (1982). The Influence of Socioeconomic Bonds and Satisfaction on Interstate Migration. Social Forces, 61, 551-574. https://doi.org/10.2307/2578241
Stark, O. (2017). Migration when Social Preferences are Ordinal: Steady State Population Distribution, and Social Welfare. Economica, 84, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12245
Stockdale, A. (2016). Contemporary and “Messy” Rural In-Migration Processes: Comparing Counter-Urban and Lateral Rural Migration. Population, Space and Place, 22, 599-616. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1947
Stockdale, A., Marsaili, M., & Lorna, P. (2013). Connected Life Courses: Influences on and Experiences of “Midlife” In-Migration to Rural Areas. Population, Space and Place, 19, 239-257. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1709
Tabor, A. S., & Milfont, T. L. (2011). Migration Change Model: Exploring the Process of Migration on a Psychological Level. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 818-832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.11.013
Todaro, M. P. (1976). Internal Migration in Developing Countries: A Review of Theory, Evidence, Methodology and Research Priorities (pp. 1-30). Geneva: International Labor Office.
Vadean, F., & Piracha, M. (2009). Circular Migration or Permanent Return: What Determines Different Forms of Migration? (pp. 1-30). IZA Discussion Papers, No. 4287.
Van Dalen, H. P., & Henkens, K. (2012). Explaining Low International Labour Mobility: The Role of Networks, Personality, and Perceived Labour Market Opportunities. Population, Space and Place, 18, 31-44. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.642
Van Dalen, H. P., & Henkens, K. (2013). Explaining Emigration Intentions and Behaviour in the Netherlands, 2005-10. Population Studies, 67, 225-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2012.725135
Veenhoven, R. (2017). Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Did the Promise of Enlightenment Come True? Social Indicators Research, 130, 9-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1128-x
Wallace, M., & Wu, Q. (M.). (2018). Immigration and the Quality of Life in U.S. Metropolitan areas. The Social Science Journal, 56, 443-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.09.016
Wang, Z., Pan, S. L., Quyang, T. H., & Chou, T. C. (2014). Achieving IT-Enabled Enterprise Agility in China: An IT Organizational Identity Perspective. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 61, 182-195. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2013.2259494
Williams, J. D., & Sofranko A. J. (1979). Motivations for the Inmigration Component of Population Turnaround in Nonmetropolitan Areas. Demography, 16, 239-255. https://doi.org/10.2307/2061141
Wish, N. B. (1986). Are We Really Measuring the Quality of Life? Well-Being Has Subjective Dimensions, As Well As Objective Ones. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 45, 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1986.tb01906.x
Yang, D. (2006). Why Do Migrants Return to Poor Countries? Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Responses to Exchange Rate Shocks. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 88, 715-735. https://doi.org/10.3386/w12396
Ziegler, J. A., & Britton, C. R. (1981). A Comparative Analysis of Socioeconomic Variations in Measuring the Quality of Life. Social Science Quarterly, 62, 303-312.