BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.7, No.2, 2021 999 

 

 

 

 

The Effect of Migrant Students on Local Students’ 

Academic Performance 

By Liu, Z., & Guo, R. 
Correspondence to: Zeyun Liu, Ph.D. Candidate, Business School, Beijing Nor-

mal University, China. Email: zeyun_liu@bnu.edu.cn 

HETHER the aggregation of migrant students in schools will affect 

the academic development of local students is a valuable and practical 

problems. Based on the survey data of grade 9 students collected by 

CEPS2013-2014 (China Education Panel Survey) and the balance test, this 

article simulated scenario of random class-division within the same school by 

adding the fixed effect and deleting samples of non-random class-division, 

estimated the effect of the proportion of migrant students on the academic 

performance of local students. 

The results are as follows: 

 In the same class, the proportion of migrant students with non-

agricultural household registration does not affect the academic per-

formance of local students. 

 The proportion of migrant students with agricultural household reg-

istration statistically negatively affect the academic performance of 

female local students, local students with better ability, local stu-

dents studying in the best local schools, and local students in munic-

ipalities or provincial capital cities. However, this influence is not 

universal which only statistically significant, and the practical influ-

ence is relatively small. 

 This negative effect may be due to the spillover effect caused by mi-

grant students’ less participation in extra-curricular tutoring, what’s 

worse, the increase in the proportion of migrant students will en-

hance the difficulty of class management and force teachers to adjust 

teaching methods. 

Base on the empirical study researchers suggested that: the govern-

ment should strive to reduce the institutional barriers that restrict migrant 

students to receive education in the migratory place. Also, in the process of 

education resource allocation, the government should incline to the schools 

where migrant students are more concentrated, so as to neutralize the nega-

tive impact of the reverse peer effects. 

 

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Vol.7, No.2, 2021 1000 

Source: Peking University Education Review, 2020; 18(4): 71-102 + 187.