Accumulation and buffering: the impact of labour mobility on the development resilience of rural households

Against the backdrop of multiple risks confronting rural households in China, enhancing household development resilience has become a pressing issue. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2022, this study constructs a capability-oriented household development resilience index using the entropy method and employs a two-way fixed-effects model to examine the impact of labour mobility on resilience. The findings indicate that labour mobility significantly strengthens household development resilience, with more pronounced effects among low- and middle-income, low-human-capital, and high-welfare-dependency households. Mechanism analysis indicates that labour mobility operates through two primary pathways: accumulation of economic assets and improvements in the employment structure. In terms of risk buffering, labour mobility buffers against health risks but fails to mitigate major life events or natural disasters. Further analysis shows that the resilience-enhancing effect is stronger for longer-distance and single-gender migration patterns. These findings highlight labour mobility as a strategic yet conditional pathway for rural households to build resilience amid multiple risks.