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Commuting time and sickness absence in China: Rural/urban variations and Hukou impacts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Murong Guo ,
Kuang Tang  and
Zicheng Wang
Murong Guo
Affiliation:
Renmin University, China
Kuang Tang
Affiliation:
Renmin University, China
Zicheng Wang*
Affiliation:
Jinan University, China
*
Zicheng Wang, School of Public Management, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Blvd, Guangzhou 510632, China. Email: wangzicheng976@126.com
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Abstract

This article addresses three main issues: the relationship between commute time and sickness absence, the heterogeneity of the commuting–absenteeism effect between rural migrants and urban citizens, and the effect of China’s Hukou system on the commuting–absenteeism effect. It applies a unique set of employer–employee matched data in China and a zero-inflated negative binomial model. We find clear evidence that a longer commuting time contributes to an increase in sickness absence. The heterogeneity of the commuting–absenteeism effect can also be confirmed: longer commuting leads to higher absence rates for urban citizens but not for rural migrants. Furthermore, we explore the effect of commuting on a set of health-related outcomes. The estimations demonstrate that commuting time has a significant impact on health-related outcomes for both migrants and urban citizens, but unequal access to housing provision and to social health insurance in the Hukou system may mean that rural migrants resort to more informal medical services and thus lack access to the official sickness certificate required to seek legal sickness absence. We recommend accelerated reform of the Hukou system to encourage rural workers to seek appropriate and timely medical services, thereby reducing public health risks.

Keywords

I12I14J83N35N75CommutingHukoupublic healthrural disadvantagesickness absencezero-inflated negative binomial model
Type
Original Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 31 , Issue 1: Affordable housing; Migrant labour; New precarity questions , March 2020 , pp. 76 - 95
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020

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