The Institutional, Organizational and Cultural Sources of Worker Resistance: East Asian-Invested Enterprises in China

Abstract

This paper analyzes institutional, organizational, and cultural sources that have become the most significant factors in generating labor disputes as China has transited into a market economy. It also compares direct sources of labor unrest among East Asian enterprises such as Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese firms invested in coastal cities in China. Findings, derived from the unique data on Quantitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and the historical data compild for local newspapers for descriptive explanations were systematically codified into a statistical analysis. The data shows that disputes have arisen over industrial hazards, frequently occurring in Hong Kong-owned firms due to a lack of concern with safety. Workers at Japanese electronics firms, however, went on strike for higher wages in the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, workers became more disgruntled over inhumane treatment arising from cultural misunderstandings in Korean- and Taiwanese-owned firms. During the late 1990s, disputes over organizational factors leading to economic conditions such as pay held in arrears increased in Hong Kong and Taiwanese-owned firms. In Hong Kong-owned firms, institutional factors such as labor contract default and expiration also became an important element in labor disputes. In general, worker resistance strategies have taken the form of either strikes or collective petition. Such actions have not usually arisen out of the organized resistance but have been the result of spontaneous decisions made by local networks of workers or the work-floor section. A blending of case study insights and comparative analytic research should be undertaken to make a closer examination of the underlying crucial factors in labor disputes and everyday workplace resistance.