Labor In China Research Articles

Macroeconomic and trade policy impacts based on DSGE model

In the context of economic de-globalization, especially the impact of COVID-19, the adjustment of one country's macroeconomic and trade policies will have spillover effects on trading partners. Build DSGE models between the two countries, in which Epstein - Zin utility function replacement time can be divided into the utility function, to solve the model, using the second order approximate solution technology with particle filter to estimate the parameters, and analysis of the open economy under the background of a country's technological progress, monetary policy, labor supply, government spending and tariff policy on macroeconomic impact between the two countries. It is found that the impact of China's technological progress on F country's macro economy is greater than that of F country on China. The spillover effect of monetary policy on another country's macro economy will change the consumption structure of both countries. The impact of China's labor supply shock on the total investment of F country is greater than that of F country on China. The positive impact of government spending on another country's inflation rate is lower than other policy shocks. The impact of the positive impact of government expenditure in F country on China's aggregate demand is greater than that of China on F country.

Can provincial-pooling of urban and rural resident basic medical insurance improve the health performance of migrant population?

Enhancing the pooling level of medical insurance is an inevitable requirement to strengthen the mutual assistance capability of funds and achieving national health. In China, with the continuous expansion of the migrant population seeking medical treatment in other regions, the role of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance is becoming increasingly prominent. While there is limited research on the impact and mechanism of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance on the health of migrant population. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance on the health performance of migrant population and analyze the mediating role of social integration. Using data of three waves (2014, 2016 and 2018) of the China Labor force Dynamics Survey, this study focuses on a sample of migrant population enrolled in Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance and employs the estimation methods of time-varying difference-in-difference and mediating effect model. The results of time-varying difference-in-difference show that provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance improves the health performance of migrant population by 9.6% (p < 0.05), and the event study method and placebo test all indicate that the research results are robust. The mediating effect analysis demonstrates that the provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance enhances health performance by fostering the subjective and objective social integration, and neighbourhood assistance, social equity, life happiness and trust in the majority are specific intermediary channels. The results of heterogeneity analysis indicates that provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance is more effective in improving the health performance of high-income (β = −0.090; P < 0.05), new-generation (β = −0.116; P < 0.1) and highly-educated (β = 0.130; p < 0.05) migrant population. Our results call for accelerating the promotion of provincial-pooling of basic medical insurance to improve health performance of migrant population.

Who is ‘stuck’ in the past? The impact of the 1998 great flood on the adoption of agricultural technology in China

ABSTRACT This study estimates the impact of the 1998 Great Flood on the adoption of agricultural technology in China and its mechanism using a cross-sectional dataset collected from the ERA5-Land, the China Labor Force Dynamic Survey, the China Rural Statistical Yearbook, and the China Population Census. The analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped correlation between farmers’ exposure to the flood event and their propensity to embrace technological advancements in agriculture. Farmers who experienced medium flood exposure tend to be risk lovers and exhibit a 4.9% higher likelihood of adopting agricultural technology compared to their counterparts who did not experience the flood. On the contrary, farmers who faced extreme flood exposure tend to be risk averse and exhibit an 11.9% diminished likelihood of adopting agricultural technology compared to those who remained unscathed by the flood.

Analysis of the Impact of Delayed Retirement to the Macroeconomy

With the steady improvement of life expectancy in Chinese society and the intensification of the aging trend of the population, the supply-demand relationship in the labor market is facing unprecedented challenges. The increasingly serious reduction of the labor force and the pressure of the pension system make the current retirement policy gradually show its shortcomings of not adapting to the Chinese labor market. To this end, the government has planned to gradually implement the retirement delay policy and set a long-term goal to 2035. In an in-depth discussion of the current situation of China's labor market, society must focus on the aging of the population, the extension of working life, and the changes in labor demand. In order to better promote the implementation of the delayed retirement policy, this paper makes the following recommendations: protect the legislative rights of workers, strengthen medical services to safeguard the health of the elderly workforce, provide targeted training to adapt to the new work needs, and introduce more flexible working arrangements. These measures aim to ensure that the delayed retirement policy can be effectively implemented while protecting the rights and interests of workers.

Evolution Characteristics of Cultivated Land Protection Policy in China Based on Smith Policy Implementation

(1) Background: In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and based on the historical evolution of cultivated land protection policy, we used the Smith model to address the problem of policy implementation bias and provide recommendations on how to ensure that cultivated land protection policy does not deviate in the implementation process. (2) Methods: The historical evolution process of China’s cultivated land protection policy was elucidated using literature analysis and the inductive deduction method; moreover, the issues regarding local evolution were investigated. In addition, utilizing the Smith model, which has an important role in policy implementation, the restoration direction of cultivated land protection in China was summarized. (3) Project: China’s cultivated land protection policy has demonstrated success in two stages of its historical development—from the basic stage of pursuing equal quantity and quality to the new stage of the trinity of “quantity–quality–ecology” of cultivated land. However, the trend of cultivated land protection policy development based on the regional division of labor in China still has some problems, i.e., the total quantity of cultivated land is insufficient, the quality is low, and the implementation of the trinity is unclear. These regional divisions depend on solving the balance of China’s grain security, and using the Smith model to solve the problem of policy implementation has become an important measure to resolve the issue of grain security and achieve the goal of cultivated land protection. (4) Conclusions: The Smith model is suitable for the implementation of China’s cultivated land protection policy. By utilizing the Smith model, the policy target group was found to be conducive to contributing to the maturity of and improvement in China’s cultivated land protection policy.

Price of going green: The employment effects of the environmental protection tax in China

Compared with command-and-control regulations, it is less known about the labor market consequences of environmental taxes. This study examines the employment impact of the 2018 Environmental Protection Tax (EPT). Applying a triple-difference framework, we empirically establish the employment-suppressing consequence of EPT, which is primarily attributable to output reductions and green technological advances. Moreover, our analysis highlights a size-dependent strategy adopted by companies to navigate the escalating environmental costs: while small companies opt for production downsizing, larger counterparts tend to invest more in technical abatement initiatives. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the unemployment effect is more pronounced in companies facing higher financial constraints and greater public environmental attention, with low-skilled workers bearing the brunt, albeit without significant wage inequality. Further, we find that government green subsidies can mute this job-reduction effect. Our study illuminates an unintended incidence of environmental policy costs on labor in China and underscores comprehensive policy evaluation.

Explaining the decline of China's labor share: A wide replication of Oberfield and Raval (2021)

SummaryChina's labor share has declined since late 1990s. Using the methodology developed by Oberfield and Raval, this paper estimates China's aggregate capital‐labor elasticity of substitution, leveraging the estimated micro‐level elasticities. The findings indicate that China's aggregate capital‐labor elasticity falls within the range of 0.9 to 1. Utilizing this estimated aggregate elasticity for labor share decomposition, we find that the bias of technical change emerges as the predominant factor driving the decline in labor share.

Impacts of alcohol consumption on farmers’ mental health: Insights from rural China

The global mental health crisis presents a significant challenge to sustainable development, and this crisis is more pronounced in China's rural areas versus urban areas. Alcohol consumption has increased in rural areas with China's economic growth, but the number of studies on the relationship between farmers' alcohol consumption and their mental health is limited. Based on data from the China Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study uses the endogenous switching regression model (ESR) to analyze the influence of alcohol consumption on farmers' mental health. On this basis, the study further conducts a counterfactual analysis to estimate the average treatment effect of alcohol consumption on farmers' mental health. The results show that: (1) There is a significant positive relationship between alcohol consumption and farmers' mental health. Specifically, the mental health index of drinking farmers increases by 19.7 % compared to non-drinking farmers. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that alcohol consumption is more beneficial for improving the mental health of male farmers, elderly farmers, and employed farmers. Furthermore, drinking alcohol almost every day, consuming Baijiu, and each drinking consumption ranging from 0 to 100 mL per occasion are more conducive to improving farmers' mental health. These findings have implications for relieving depressive symptomology and improving farmers' mental health in developing countries. The results of this study also provide guidance for addressing the global mental health crisis.

Family and job microsystems as mediators between social integration and depression among rural-to-urban migrant workers in China: does having sons make a difference?

Rural-to-urban migrant workers are a vulnerable group at risk of developing depression. Based on the social-ecological systems theory, this study investigates the impact of the lack of social integration on depression, considering the mediating roles of migrant workers' microsystems (family happiness and job burnout). Additionally, the study explores whether having sons influences these associations. The sample of 4,618 rural-to-urban migrant workers was obtained from the 2018 wave of the China Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS). All the measures in the survey exhibited good reliability, including the Center for Epidemiological Research Depression Scale (CES-D), family happiness, job burnout, and social integration. The data were primarily analyzed using a structural equation model. Social integration had a direct impact on depression among migrant workers. Additionally, it indirectly affected depression through the mediating roles of family happiness not job burnout. The moderating effect of having sons mainly occurred on the path from social integration to family happiness. The cross-sectional design impeded the ability to draw causal inferences. This finding highlights the potential benefits of social integration and family happiness in promoting early prevention of depression among migrant workers. It indicates that the inclination toward having sons among migrant workers continues to impact their mental health.

Recent progress in hukou reform and labor market integration in China: 1996–2022

To investigate the household registration system (hukou) reform in China, it is important to quantify the thresholds of obtaining hukou in urban areas at the city level. We build a new index to measure the likelihood of obtaining urban hukou for migrants in each destination city, termed the “settlement probability”, based on individual information of floating population from the population census and hukou policies of 332 cities from 1996 to 2022. We find that the average settlement probability has been steadily increasing since 1999, reaching 91% in 2022, and 15 provinces have achieved low thresholds. We further build a simple general spatial equilibrium model with the factor of settlement probability to investigate the impacts of hukou reform. The empirical analysis shows there is a mismatch between settlement probability and settlement intentions. Moreover, we find that higher settlement probability is significantly correlated with more migrants' inflow, lower migrants' wages and higher urban housing prices, especially in more developed cities. Therefore, hukou reform is crucial for enhancing the integration of China's labor market.

DISPARITIES IN CHINA'S LABOUR MARKETS BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS

This paper focuses on examining the urban-rural gap in China's labour market, using CHFS data. The findings indicate that rural workers in China exhibit a high employment rate due to lower education levels, making it easier for them to secure basic jobs in society. However, they often face lower wages and lack housing and medical insurance, making it challenging for them to sustain themselves in urban areas. It is crucial to recognize that the economic well-being of workers is not solely determined by wage income but also by working conditions and stability. Disparities between urban and rural labour forces cannot be overlooked, as migratory workers also encounter distinct labour agreements and social welfare rights. Research suggests that individuals with lower education levels tend to fare better in rural areas, whereas those with higher education levels typically thrive in urban settings.

Substantial increase of heat-induced labor and economic loss in China under rapid economic and environmental temperature growth

Exposure to heat stress causes diminished work performance and leads to economic loss. In the last two decades, China has experienced both rapid economic development and environmental warming; however, the spatiotemporal variations of association between environmental heat and labor loss have been rarely investigated behind this double impact. Here, we evaluated the variation in China's heat-induced labor productivity loss and related economic cost from 2001 to 2019 and investigated the effect of economic development and regional warming. We found that decline in labor productivity because of heat stress increased significantly (p < 0.05 for heavy-intensity work), and the corresponding economic loss also exhibited a drastic increase by 6- to 9-fold. The relative economic loss showed a slight but nonsignificant increase with an average value of 0.54% of the annual total earnings. At the sub-regional and sectoral level, adverse effects were more prominent in the southeast region, and the secondary industry sectors, such as construction and manufacturing, contributed to larger proportions of economic losses. The transformation of industrial structure made economic sectors more vulnerable to heat exposure, and increasingly preventive effects of air-conditioning use were noted on economic damage due to heat-induced productivity decline (36.0% relative economic benefits in 2019 compared to 9.7% in 2001). Our findings could provide a deep insight into heat burden on occupational health and heat adaptation strategies regionally under climate change, especially in developing areas with higher temperature and humidity environment.

Navigating the Legal Labyrinth: The Future of Data-Driven Platform Labor in China

Navigating the Legal Labyrinth: The Future of Data-Driven Platform Labor in China

Division of household labor in urban China: Couples’ education pairing and co-residence with parents

The norm in which wives usually undertake a greater share of household labor than their husbands in China is deeply rooted in the fact that historically, women were of a much lower educational, social, and economic status than men. One significant change in recent decades is that the rapid improvement in women’s educational attainment has increased the share of marriages in which the wife has more education than the husband. Does the division of household labor vary among couples of diverse education pairings? How does living with parents – a common living arrangement in China – weaken or strengthen this traditional norm? We explore these questions using data from the China Family Panel Studies conducted in the 2010s. Focusing on recently married couples with young children, we show that homogamous couples in which both spouses have high school or college education and hypogamous couples in which the wife has the educational advantage have the most equitable division of household labor. Co-residence with parents does not alleviate the gender gap for most couples, but living with paternal parents tends to reduce the housework for lower educated daughters-in-law while living with maternal parents appears to benefit daughters who have one-level education more than their husbands. This study reveals reduced gender inequality in housework among the homogamous and hypogamous couples, but gender division remains strong overall, despite improvement in women’s educational attainment and potential support from paternal or maternal parents through co-residences.

Development of planning support systems: A systematic review of the Chinese language literature

Due to the increasing complexity of cities and the involvement of multiple stakeholders in urban planning, the field encompasses vast amounts of information, expertise, planning tools, and communication skills. Planning support systems (PSS) are geo-information-technology-based instruments that offer a suite of supportive tools to aid the urban planning process. Over the past three decades, PSS has seen widespread exploration and implementation globally, including within the rapidly evolving context of China. Nonetheless, language barriers have posed challenges in reviewing and synthesizing PSS advancements documented in Chinese publications. To provide a thorough and objective perspective of the achievements in Chinese literature for international scholars, this study adopts a systematic review methodology. It screens 68 relevant high-quality articles from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and conducts statistical analyses on them, focusing on publication time, geographic distribution, fields of study, etc. Then it mainly summarizes the development of foundational elements and the applications of the systems. It is found that in terms of system elements, China has developed some unique theories and corresponding planning models, alongside exploring various technological aspects. In applications, PSS serves various functions across different subfields, reflecting the division of labor in China’s planning process and the orientation of its policies. Future research avenues could encompass the creation of policy-driven comprehensive management functions, the development of systems tailored to specific contexts, and the exploration of new technologies like Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and generative Artificial Intelligence to boost PSS functionality and efficiency.

The Impact of Labor Standards on International Trade: A Chinese Perspective

This paper first compiles some of the representative literature exploring the relationship between labor standards and international trade, and explores the different attitudes of developed and developing countries on the linkage between labor standards and international trade, and on this basis, analyzes the impact of labor standards on international trade based on China's perspective. The paper argues that labor standards, which are predominantly promoted by Western countries with a focus on workers rights, have a dual nature and exert various effects on the development of international trade. It is not desirable for Chinese enterprises to take a passive attitude of resistance in the face of challenges. Only by implementing social responsibility management into all levels of the enterprise organization structure, transforming the certification pressure into competitive power, and changing the one-sided view of foreign countries on China's labor standards can we win a favorable position in the fierce international competition and a greater space for the development of Chinese enterprises.

Research Progress and Prospect of Chinese Labor Skill Structure

As an important index to measure a country's economic development and social progress, the skill structure of labor force has been widely concerned. With the rapid development of China's economy and science and technology, the optimization of labor force skill structure has become one of the key factors to achieve sustainable development. However, there are still some deficiencies and limitations in the research on the skill structure of Chinese labor force. By systematically combing relevant studies, this paper clarified the evolution trend of China's labor force skill structure, deeply analyzed the influence mechanism of China's labor force skill structure around variables such as digital economy, industrial upgrading, regional development level, technological progress and urbanization, and then discussed the optimization path of labor force skill structure, and looked forward to the direction and focus of future research.

A New Explanation for Changes in China's Labor Income Share: Capital Heterogeneity

In this paper, a two-sector general equilibrium model with Putty-Clay technology is constructed, and the characteristics of capital heterogeneity are depicted in the model in the form of capital goods productivity variance. Through the capital selection mechanism, the impact of capital heterogeneity on labor income share is explored. It is found that the inverted U-trend of relative capital heterogeneity in capital-intensive industries is the cause. Second, the mechanism of capital heterogeneity affecting labor income share lies in the capital goods selection mechanism. With the increase of capital heterogeneity, the investment uncertainty faced by enterprises is strengthened. When choosing capital goods, enterprises will diversify investment and reduce capital intensity. After capital goods are put into production, firms will use high-productivity capital goods and shut down low-productivity capital goods, leading to a decline in capital utilization, the increase in total factor productivity, and the increase in output. Third, in the capital-intensive sector, the increase of capital heterogeneity will reduce, while in the labor-intensive sector, the opposite effect is presented. The new characteristics of Chinese capital and the change of labor income share, and has important policy reference significance for promoting.

Research on the Effect of Labor Education in Universities based on CIPP Model

Objective: To measure the effectiveness of labor education in universities, classify students into different groups and further improve the effectiveness of labor education. Methods: This paper establishes a four-index evaluation system of labor education in colleges and universities based on the CIPP model, and uses the entropy weight method to determine the index weight, so that the four indicators established by the CIPP model can be calculated. The specific scores of the indicators, and the investigation of the colleges and universities that are implementing labor education in Hebei Province, according to the data to calculate the specific scores, and then use the K-means algorithm to cluster analysis to classify the specific majors according to the characteristics of their scores, specifically and comprehensively explore the effect of labor education in colleges and universities. Conclusions: most of the majors are in high-performance majors, and the rest are basically in medium-performance majors. Only a few majors are low-performance. This phenomenon shows that China 's labor education system is healthy, which plays a role in promoting the construction of a strong education country and the cultivation of talents.

How Climate Change Affects Labor Mobility: Empirical Evidence from the CLDS

ABSTRACT Regional climate conditions have become a key factor that is exacerbating the process of China’s labor spatial mobility. In contrast to previous research based on mixed cross-sectional data and floating population sample selection, this study uses unbalanced panel data from the China Labor Force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) from 2014 to 2018 and a regional temperature dataset to examine the impact of climate change on inter-provincial and municipal labor mobility outflow from the perspective of local household registration, and further investigates regional reallocation and stock effects of labor related to climate change. The findings reveal four relevant results. First, after eliminating the influence bias of individual fixed effects, the labor force outflow effect of climate change across regions is significantly smaller than that found in previous research, at only one-fifth of existing research conclusions. Second, the mechanism analysis shows that temperature can affect labor mobility through individual health, happiness and government environmental regulation. Third, the impact of climate change on labor mobility has significant heterogeneity. Labor flows from underdeveloped regions to developed areas and from the central and western regions to the eastern region, and climate change has a greater impact for workers with higher education levels. In addition, climate change has a greater impact on workers with higher family incomes and family age structures. Fourth, the impact of climate change on labor mobility exhibits temperature-based threshold effects. This study provides a new perspective for understanding the impact of climate change on labor mobility, offering valuable policy support for guiding the rational flow of labor and urban managers’ formulation of strategically targeted measures.