Labor rights in Chinese manufacturing firms: an empirical analysis based on the China Employer-Employee Survey data

Abstract

ABSTRACTBased on the 2015 China Employer-Employee Survey data, this article presents descriptive statistics on collective and individual labor rights in Chinese manufacturing firms. The former includes data about rights pertaining to labor unions and collective bargaining, while the latter includes promotion and remuneration. The main findings are as follows. (1) Although the indicators vary widely in terms of firm-specific characteristics (e.g. size, capital sources, ownership structure, exporting, and industry), the overall protection level of collective labor rights in Chinese manufacturing firms appear to meet accepted levels with 61.45% of firms offering labor unions and 64.93% engaging in collective wage bargaining. (2) While a few employees did not enjoy individual labor rights such as promotions and social security (e.g. 40% workers had no opportunity for promotion), discrimination based on demographical characters (e.g. gender, Hukou, and education level) is not evident for employees’ individual labor rights.Abbreviations: CEES: China Employer-Employee Survey; ILO: International Labor Organization.