| Summary/Abstract |
How widespread is unemployment among land-losing farmers in China and what explains regional variations in unemployment? Using census data, this article shows that there were only roughly 1.7 million unemployed land-losing farmers in 2010. Case studies and quantitative analysis demonstrate that unemployment is concentrated in areas that have undergone large-scale land takings, often in the form of ‘new cities’ or ‘university cities.’ Less-educated farmers have been unable to compete in urban labor markets and have become unemployed, especially in poorer regions. The postfinancial crisis fiscal stimulus exacerbated these trends, making cities that received funding for rebuilding after the Wenchuan earthquake home to high numbers of unemployed land-losing farmers.
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