Hukou-based labour market discrimination and ownership structure in urban China

Abstract

This paper utilises a 2008 survey on the wave of rural–urban migration in China to provide new empirical evidence on labour market discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants with rural hukou in two ownership sectors within urban China: state-owned enterprises and private firms. By employing a double-selectivity approach, this study shows that the high-wage state-owned enterprise sector is more discriminatory than the private sector against rural hukou holders in urban China. Furthermore, the results from quantile regressions and the wage decomposition inform us that the hukou-based wage discrimination is mainly against middle- and high-wage workers, especially in state-owned enterprises. Moreover, in terms of the magnitude of discrimination, female workers suffer more discrimination than male workers in state-owned enterprises.