Does Migration Distance Affect Happiness? Evidence From Internal Migrants in China

BACKGROUND: Happiness is a complex concept involving many subjects such as society, psychology, and ethics. How will migration distance affect migrants' happiness under the new trend of migration in China? The goal of this paper is to analyze the influence and transmission mechanism of migration distance on happiness of migrant individuals, and the heterogeneity of this effect on urban and rural migrants. METHODS: Employing data of 129,803 observations from the 2012 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we first estimate the effects of migration distance on happiness by the ordinal logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) method. Second, we examine the heterogeneity of effect by splitting the sample into the urban and rural migrants. Finally, we analyze the transmission mechanism of migration distance on happiness by mediating effect model. RESULTS: The migration distance of internal migrants in China has a significant negative impact on happiness. Urban migrant individuals show a stronger response to migration distance compared to rural counterparts. Social integration is proved as the potential mechanism through which the effect of migration distance on happiness. CONCLUSION: The results emphasize happiness of internal migrant and other mental health problems. Moreover, particular attention should be paid to social integration on happiness, such as strengthening the cultural exchange in different areas, narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas, promoting rational migrant decision of individual, and enhancing the happiness of them.