Urban Administrative Restructuring and Gender Gap in the Labor Market

Evidence From China's City‐County Merger Reform

Bibliographic Data

ID21353050
AuthorsHui Li (0000-0001-9355-1116, Southeast University), Hao Li (0000-0001-5192-5458, School of Economics and Management Southeast University Nanjing China), Xiuyan Liu (0000-0003-3798-8588, School of Economics and Management Southeast University Nanjing China), Jingjing Ye (0000-0002-6420-5609, School of Public Finance and Taxation Zhongnan University of Economics and Law Wuhan China, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-05-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Regional Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4146 • E-ISSN: 1467-9787
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jors.70068
OpenAlexW7160425426
LanguageEN
References cited68

As a major form of urban administrative restructuring in China, city‐county mergers dismantle boundaries between municipal districts and surrounding counties, creating more integrated local labor markets. Using longitudinal data from the China Household Finance Survey and a difference‐in‐differences framework, we examine how this restructuring affects gender disparities in labor market outcomes. We find that the reform significantly widens the gender wage gap. Mechanism analysis shows that this gap is driven by several channels, including increased labor competition from migrant inflows, the expansion of manufacturing activity, improvements in transportation infrastructure, and rising housing values. The effects are highly heterogeneous: rural and less‐educated women, as well as women in more developed counties, experience the largest losses relative to men

China · Competition (biology) · Economic restructuring · Gender gap · Restructuring · Wage · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality

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