Abstract: The preference for redistributionof the residents is an important factor influencing government's redistribution policy, and this influencing factor has received extensive attentionin the academic world. Based on the data of residents' preference for redistribution provided by China General Social Survey and the data of migrant population proportion at the level of prefecture-level cities in China, this paper conducts an empirical study. The findings show that, in general, the inflow of migrant population has significantly restrained thepreference for redistribution of the local residents. At the same time, the preference for redistribution of the agriculturally registeredlocal residents is more affected by the influx of migrant population than the non-agriculturally registeredlocal residents. The impact of the inflows of migrant population on the preference for redistribution of local residents shows significant heterogeneity among local residents with different education levels. The results of the mechanism study show that there isa heterogeneous transmission mechanism in the preference for redistribution of local residentsby the inflow of migrant populations.On the one hand, theinflow of migrantpopulation has strengthened the local residents' redistributive preferences through raising their risk-averse preferences and lowering their equity beliefs; on the other hand, the inflow of migrant population has also suppressedthe local residents' redistributive preferences through raising their expectations of upward mobility and lowering their group trust.

Key words: preferences for redistribution, migrant populations, social justice recognition, mobility expectation