Effect of Urban-Rural Income Gap on the Population Peri-Urbanization Rate in China

Attracted by the urban–rural income gap (URIG), a massive agricultural transfer population has flooded into cities and became a peri-urbanized population due to the restrictions of the household registration system. This trend eventually leads to the rising population peri-urbanization rate (PPUR), which is equal to the proportion of urban resident population with rural household registration in the total residents, and seriously affects the development of new-type people-oriented urbanization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of URIG on PPUR at the national and regional levels using the spatial exploration analysis and spatial Durbin model from the perspective of comparative economic interests. Empirical results revealed that PPUR had high spatial agglomeration, as indicated by high values in Eastern China and low values in Central and Western China. Moreover, the PPUR of most provinces in China was rising, dominated by intermediate values. At the national level, URIG promoted the increase of PPUR in the province, but inhibited the increase of PPUR in nearby provinces. Except for household registration, other control variables, such as industrial structure, fixed asset formation rate, infrastructure, medical resources and land-centered urbanization, also contributed to the PPUR in the province. At the regional level, the URIG of Central and Western China contributed to the increase of PPUR, whereas in Eastern China it inhibited the increase of PPUR. The strong correlation of URIG and PPUR calls for relevant policies for narrowing URIG and reducing PPUR.