Can Urban Internet Development Attract Labor Force? Evidence from Chinese Cities

Labor force mobility plays a crucial role in achieving balanced regional development in China. This study investigates whether urban internet development can effectively attract labor force inflow using data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) and constructing a comprehensive urban internet development index through factor analysis. Employing a conditional logit model and addressing potential endogeneity through instrumental variables, we find that (1) urban internet development significantly attracts labor force inflow, with a one-unit increase in the urban internet development index significantly raising the log odds of individual city choice by 0.2, and this effect remains robust across multiple specifications and estimation methods; (2) the attraction effect shows significant heterogeneity—it is stronger among highly educated, younger, foreign language proficient, and unmarried individuals, and more pronounced in regions with lower housing costs, lower income levels, and inland locations. These findings suggest that less-developed cities should prioritize internet infrastructure development to accumulate high-quality labor resources and achieve high-quality economic development, while also enhancing support for bottom-tier workers through public-benefit online platforms.