Employment Flow of College Graduates in China: City Preference and Group Difference

Abstract

The outflow of college graduates will damage the accumulation of regional human capital and affect regional economic and social development. This article uses the administrative data of the employment monitoring system for college graduates in a province in central China in 2018 and establishes a multivariate logit model based on the Todaro model, opportunity inequality theory, and the relative poverty hypothesis to analyze first employment place preferences and group differences of college graduates. The study found that college graduates tend to peer flow (returning to urban employment at the same level as the city of origin), and family background will promote peer flow. Also, graduates are more willing to work in large and medium cities with higher economic levels, and this employment ratio shows obvious differences in majors, college types, gender, and educational levels. Finally, college graduates from relatively low family status are more likely to experience upward or downward flow.