Abstract This paper examines the impact of city-specific household registration ( hukou ) policies on the migration decisions of new college graduates in China. Using data from the 2019 National University Graduates’ Employment Survey and hukou policies from prefecture-level cities, we analyze how hukou constraints shape post-graduation location choices. Our findings reveal that: (1) Stricter hukou policies are generally associated with a lower likelihood of graduates staying in the city where they completed their education; (2) this effect tends to be more pronounced in high-amenity cities, where constrained access to urban entitlements reduces their attractiveness; (3) the impact varies across demographic groups: Male graduates, those from middle-income families, and individuals with rural hukou are more responsive to hukou restrictions; (4) the effect is strongest and statistically significant among vocational and junior college graduates. These findings highlight how institutional barriers influence labor mobility and human capital allocation.
Sheng et al. (Thu,) studied this question.