Urban Labor Market Growth And Uneven Regional Development In Post-Reform China, 1980–1995

Abstract

This study is to investigate how labor market growth in China's industrial sector has been shaped by the marketization processes and also spatially differentiated during the reform period. It contends that a study of regional labor market dynamics has a significant implication for understanding uneven regional development during the reform period. Using a shift share analysis, this study shows that there is a regional dimension in labor market performance at the provincial level and that it is important to consider both industrial output and labor productivity in order to understand spatial patterns of labor market growth. The analysis indicates that mainly coastal provinces have enjoyed net employment growth from positive net shifts of the non-state sector for all and of the state sector, and yet in an uneven manner, while traditional industrial core and most of interior provinces hold their net employment growth due to national economy growth effect rather than net shift contributions. After all, labor market development together with production growth plays a significant role in determining patterns of regional economic development.