Does Population Hollowing Bring a Loss in Happiness: The Case of Rural China

ABSTRACT Urbanisation, by definition, is accompanied by a large loss of rural population. This transition leads to population hollowing, or the out‐migration of young to middle‐aged adults thereby leaving only the young and old in rural areas. We study the impact of rural population hollowing on rural residentsʼ welfare. Taking rural China as an example, based on the data of 4451 households from 298 villages, we find evidence of an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the degree of population hollowing and the happiness of rural residents, indicating that low levels of population hollowing correspond to an increase in happiness but higher levels lead to a decline in happiness. Population hollowing has a positive impact on happiness through the public income effect, and a negative impact on happiness through the left‐behind problem, a diminishing of cultural capacity and a weakening of rural democracy. Women are more sensitive to the negative impact of population hollowing.