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Author: Li, Xiao
Resulting in 4 citations.
1. Li, Xiao
Migration Behaviors and Educational Attainment of Metro and Non-Metro Youth
Rural Sociology published online (23 May 2022): DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12449.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ruso.12449
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Rural Sociological Society
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Migration; Modeling, Mixed Effects; Rural/Urban Differences; Rural/Urban Migration

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

While research has consistently demonstrated a positive relationship between migration from rural areas and educational attainment, it is unclear whether migration is the driver of educational attainment or merely a mediator. The "rural brain drain" perspective suggests that young people leave rural areas if they have greater academic potential than their peers. A "migration gain" perspective implies that people, regardless of prior achievements, may move to invest in human capital, thereby gaining more education than those who do not move. This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 97 to test these competing predictions with multilevel/mixed-effects models. Consistent with previous research, the study found that youth attained the least education if they stayed in non-metro areas. By contrast, they gained more education if they moved not just from but also to non-metro areas, consistent with the "migration gain" hypothesis. Academic performance alone did not explain the association between education and migration, contradicting the "rural brain drain" theory. However, academic performance and college enrollment, which are also influenced by available educational opportunities, together explain the association between migration and education significantly, suggesting that the educational outcomes of migrants are influenced by a combination of individual and institutional characteristics.
Bibliography Citation
Li, Xiao. "Migration Behaviors and Educational Attainment of Metro and Non-Metro Youth." Rural Sociology published online (23 May 2022): DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12449.
2. Li, Xiao
Rural-non-Rural Differences in Youth Status Attainment
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Washington State University, 2022
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Educational Outcomes; Rural/Urban Differences; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

It is essential to explore how growing up in rural and non-rural areas impacts youth status attainment because of the critical social and economic changes in rural areas and the frequent rural-urban youth migration that influence youth life chances and wellbeing. With data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY 97), the dissertation adopts multilevel/mixed-effects models to examine the rural-non-rural differences in youth status attainment processes and outcomes in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The results show significant rural-non-rural differences in multiple educational outcomes and hourly wages at age 30 or 31. The dissertation also explores the mechanisms through which rural origins influence youth status attainment processes and outcomes. First, it clarifies rural socioeconomic disadvantage and social capital advantage narratives at both individual and aggregate levels. The findings show that the rural disadvantage in community characteristics plays a more important role in shaping the educational gaps across places than individual-level disadvantages. Second, the dissertation examines how migration influences youth educational attainment. The findings clarify the relationship between migration and education by showing that the higher educational levels of rural migrants are not just because talented youth are more likely to move than others, but because moving results in better education, regardless of prior academic potential. The direct effect of migration suggests that rural youth were disadvantaged by the limited educational resources in rural places. At the same time, migrants to rural areas also had better educational outcomes than stayers, which may be because their moving increases student-college match. Finally, the dissertation examines how migration and return migration influence youth hourly wages at age 30 or 31. The results show that for rural youth, leaving was associated with higher wages, while returning with higher educational levels did not lead to higher wages than staying. Youth who moved to non-metro/rural areas also experience a "migration loss" in wages compared with rural stayers, which may be due to the less diverse wage structure in rural labor markets and migrants' disadvantages in social capital.
Bibliography Citation
Li, Xiao. Rural-non-Rural Differences in Youth Status Attainment. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Washington State University, 2022.
3. Li, Xiao
Rural-Urban Differences in Motherhood Wage Penalty
Presented: Montreal, QC, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2017
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Maternal Employment; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Rural/Urban Differences; Wage Penalty/Career Penalty

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Although a rich body of literature has explored variances in motherhood wage penalties, few studies have explored rural-urban differences in motherhood wage penalties. In this paper, I use data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to examine whether there are rural-urban differences in motherhood wage penalties. Fixed-effects models are used to examine the effects of motherhood on hourly wages across rural and urban contexts and across age groups. Variables including marital status, human capital, job characteristics, availability of family-friendly policies, job satisfaction and work hours are added into the models step by step, to explore how these factors contribute to the rural-urban differences in motherhood wage penalties. The results show that rural young mothers (younger than thirty) experienced a higher level of motherhood wage penalties than urban young mothers. However, when controlling marital status, urban women who were thirty or older experienced a motherhood boost while rural women of the same age group did not. College education, job characteristics, working environment and the availability of family-friendly policies contribute to the rural-urban differences in motherhood wage penalties in important ways.
Bibliography Citation
Li, Xiao. "Rural-Urban Differences in Motherhood Wage Penalty." Presented: Montreal, QC, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2017.
4. Li, Xiao
MacLean, Alair
Migration Across Metro-Nonmetro Boundaries and Hourly Wages
Rural Sociology published online (14 July 2023).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12508
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Rural Sociological Society
Keyword(s): Higher Education; Metro; Metro areas; Migration; Modeling, Mixed Effects; Modeling, Multilevel; Nonmetro; Nonmetro Areas; Rural Areas; Rural/Urban Differences; Rural/Urban Migration; Social Capital; Wage Models; Wage Theory; Wages; Younger Adult Worker Study

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Previous scholars have demonstrated that nonmetro residents who move to metro areas earn higher wages. It remains an open question whether this metro wage advantage persists in the contemporary era, and how migrating influences young adults from metro areas. Migrants may earn higher wages due to higher education. Alternatively, they may earn lower wages because they lack social capital. They may experience different associations of migration and wages when growing up in nonmetro versus metro areas due to different family backgrounds, education, and community contexts. This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 97 and multilevel/mixed-effects models to test these competing predictions. The findings show that young adults earned higher wages if they worked in metro rather than in nonmetro areas, regardless of migration, confirming a metro wage advantage. People who left nonmetro areas earned higher wages than if they stayed, consistent with a "rural brain drain." In addition, people earned similar wages if they stayed in, returned, and moved from metro to nonmetro areas, even though migrants and returnees had higher average education. The non-significant wage differences may be due to the less diverse wage structure in nonmetro labor markets and in-migrants' lack of social capital.
Bibliography Citation
Li, Xiao and Alair MacLean. "Migration Across Metro-Nonmetro Boundaries and Hourly Wages." Rural Sociology published online (14 July 2023).