Abstract
The international industrial relations literature has devoted little attention to the Chinese experience. Yet during the last ten years China has adopted a number of labor reforms that represent a significant departure from previous policies. This paper reviews the employment problems that motivated these reforms, describes the nature and limits of these new policies, and analyzes the effect of these reforms to date. Particular attention is devoted to reforms officially implemented in the summer of 1986 that change the “labor system” for nonprofessional workers in the largest enterprises. In theory, the reforms will increase the mobility of these workers between enterprises as well as give employers greater flexibility in making decisions about staffing and termination. The likely success of these policies is evaluated using both secondary sources and a limited survey of Chinese enterprises.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the comments of Carl Riskin and Charles Hoffman on earlier versions of the paper, the financial support provided through the School of Management, SUNYAB, and the research assistance of Du Xin Xin. The authors are responsible for all remaining errors. This paper was completed while Mr. Gao was a Visiting Scholar at the School of Management, SUNYAB.
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Becker, B.E., Gao, Y. The Chinese urban labor system: Prospects for reform. Journal of Labor Research 10, 411–428 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685332
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685332