Not Just Money or Jobs: How Family and Policy Shape Heterogeneous Configurations of Urban‐to‐Rural Talent Migration Decisions?
2026-08-21
Attracting and retaining skilled individuals remains a central challenge for rural development. This study examines how push, pull, and capability conditions combine to shape urban‐to‐rural talent migration decisions in China. Drawing on a survey of 1551 respondents across six provinces in eastern, central and western China, the study applies fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the configurational effects of urban quality‐of‐life pressures, family care obligations, rural development prospects, PA, hometown attachment and self‐efficacy. The findings show that no single condition is necessary for an urban‐to‐rural migration decision. Instead, six sufficient configurations are grouped into four broader types: family‐care‐centred configurations, an external‐attraction configuration, a need‐fulfilment configuration and a capability‐enabled attraction configuration. Family care obligations and PA are prominent but configuration‐dependent conditions, whereas urban quality‐of‐life pressures operate primarily as a peripheral contextual condition. By integrating push, pull and capability perspectives within a configurational framework, this study advances a talent‐centred account of counter‐urbanisation. The findings suggest that rural talent policies should move beyond uniform incentives and address heterogeneous combinations of family needs, perceived opportunities, place‐based ties and individual capabilities.