Labor Reform of State Enterprises in Post-Mao China (1978–1995)

Abstract

Abstract: The paper will, first, describe post-Mao labor legislation and its outcomes. Second, it will seek to offer a causal interpretation of these outcomes through a state-centered perspective. The main hypothesis is that despite labor reforms of 1978 to 1995, due to the limited autonomy and capacity of the central government, the labor reforms themselves have not brought about a radical change to the employment system in state enterprises, in comparison to rural reforms. The autonomy of the central government is high as evidenced in the turn-around of policies. However; there exist some limits to the government autonomy. One important limit is the fear of negative reactions by workers. The limits to the capacity of the central government consist in the difficulty of creating an alternative system of social provision, independent of state enterprises, and the difficulty of limiting the potential new system to privileged workers without provoking negative reactions.