Social network, intra-network education spillover effect and rural-urban migrants' wages: Evidence from China

•This study examines the intra-network education spillover effect on rural-urban migrants' wage, among other determinants.•The migrant workers' social network is beneficial to their economic earnings•There does exist an intra-network education spillover effect among migrant workers' social network.•The spillover effect relies on the frequent interaction between migrant worker and his/her related person.•The intra-network education spillover effect differs in gender, which tends to be more significant for male than female.

This study examines the determinants of rural-urban migrant wages, paying special attention to the intra-network education spillover effect of the migrants' social network in China. Using the new migrant sample of Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) 2009 survey data, we find that the migrants' social network does have a significant impact on their own earnings. In particular, we find evidence that there exists an education spillover effect of the migrants' social network, which indicates that the education level of the migrants' social network has a significant positive effect on their earnings. We also find that the education spillover effects differ with gender. The results are robust after considering the potential problem of endogeneity.