Exploring trust in fellow townsmen among migrants and return migrants: testing selection and integration/reintegration hypotheses

This study examines the factors influencing internal migrants' trust in fellow townsmen in the context of migration and return migration within China. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) 2016, it proposes and tests selection and integration/reintegration hypotheses to analyse how selection processes in migration and return migration, as well as integration and reintegration processes, impact trust in fellow townsmen. The findings reveal that migration and return migration significantly alter trust levels in fellow townsmen: rural-to-urban migrants exhibit lower trust compared to rural non-migrants, while rural return migrants experience a partial convergence or restoration of trust upon their return. Migration selection largely explains changes in trust, whereas return migration selection has little impact. Additionally, trust dynamics are shaped by integration and reintegration processes, with social integration and reintegration playing crucial roles in influencing trust in fellow townsmen among rural-to-urban migrants and rural return migrants, respectively. Larger institutional factors primarily influence rural-to-urban migrants' trust, highlighting the asymmetric impact of institutional contexts on integration versus reintegration. This study contributes to the literature on migration and trust by emphasising the role of selection, integration, and reintegration processes in shaping trust in fellow townsmen among migrants and return migrants in China.