Workers In Urban China Research Articles

Establishing statistical foundations of a chronology for the great divergence: a survey and critique of the primary sources for the construction of relative wage levels for Ming–Qing China

This article is a survey and critique of recent endeavours to establish statistical foundations for a chronology for the great divergence based upon trends and levels in relative wages. Our reading of the bibliography in Chinese labour history, together with a preliminary investigation into other primary sources, suggests that the Kuznetsian paradigm for empirical economics may not be viable for the construction of analytical narratives for the Chinese and other premodern imperial economies in South and West Asia. Nevertheless, two datasets currently in print will continue to be quoted to lend support to numerically grounded speculations for levels and trends in real wages and welfare for the families of wage‐dependent urban workers in China over the eighteenth century. Statistical evidence for the Ming and Qing dynasties calibrated for the purposes of comparing real wage levels for wage‐dependent labour between China and western Europe can, however, be placed on a spectrum for accuracy and inferential analysis that runs from ‘unfounded guess work’ to ‘plausible conjectures’. The unwelcome contention of this article is that the data published and potentially available for China (and probably for India and the Ottoman Empire) stand close to the unfounded guess work end of that spectrum. Meanwhile, and as a speculative conclusion, we offer a conjecture that the ‘real wages’ for Qing China's tiny proletariat, whose income included high proportions of wages in kind, have remained as elusive as they were when the real wage debate began a decade ago.

Relative Pay of Domestic Eldercare Workers in Shanghai, China

ABSTRACTDomestic services represent a growing sector of the economy in many high- and upper-middle income countries. Demand for domestic workers for eldercare is especially high as a result of the rapid aging of the population in these countries. However, domestic eldercare employment is characterized as a low-pay, low-status occupation worldwide. This article examines the relative pay of domestic eldercare workers in urban China and its underlying determinants. The estimates show that when holding observable individual characteristics constant, domestic eldercare workers earn 28 percent less than other types of workers in the service sector in Shanghai. The analysis attributes the low wages of eldercare workers to the fact that domestic paid work is culturally devalued, eldercare is performed by workers from the most marginalized segments of Shanghai's labor force, and the users of eldercare are relatively poor among the users of domestic services.

Factor Analysis on the Endowment Insurance System Reform for Urban Workers in China: Based on the Perspective of Institutional Change Theory

The basic endowment insurance system for urban workers is the pillar arrangement of the whole endowment insurance system in China, which makes a fundamental influence on the construction of social security system. After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China ushered in the era of social pension system reconstruction. This paper reviewed the changing histories of endowment insurance system for urban workers, summarized the general characteristics of endowment insurance system for urban workers, and explored the factors of the endowment insurance system reform under a perspective of institutional change theory. It was found that the economic system reform, state-owned enterprise reform, and tax reform are the economic factors affecting the pension system transition, while the compartmentalization of administrative pattern and the conflicts of interest between government departments at all levels are the administrative factors to promote the reform of the endowment insurance system. There is new resistance of the comprehensive deepening reform within the new practice of institutional change, such as the dual-track system, endowment insurance model selection problem, and the overall planning for the whole country. The endowment insurance system in China is experiencing a critical period from the long-term reform to the mature stage.

An Innovated Integrated Prefabricated Quarter System for the Migrant On-site Construction Workers of China

Migrant construction workers from rural communities are the main workforce in the Chinese construction industry and urban development. While far from hometown, most migrant construction workers live in temporary quarters, with poor conditions, on or near the construction site. Although there are standards set by the government to guarantee the basic health and safety conditions of such housing, migrant construction workers in China suffer some of the worst living conditions, even compared to migrant workers in other industries. Health and safety accidents occur often enough in workers’ quarters to provoke young laborers from rural areas to seek employment in the service industry, where better living conditions are available. As a result, serious labor shortages in the construction industry have emerged in China over recent years. There is a significant requirement for the industry to improve the condition of living quarters, by applying both technical and management methods. So far, very few articles have addressed the methods for improving the accommodations for rural migrant construction workers in urban China. This paper aims to develop an innovated integrated prefabricated (prefab) quarter system for the on-site construction workers in China. The paper first discusses the current status of the traditional construction workers’ quarters to disclose the most urgent problems in need of resolution. Barriers that block the innovation of improved workers’ quarters are listed. Then an innovated integrated prefab quarter system is introduced. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed system are discussed. The strengths of the system with regard to the management of health, safety, and environment are analyzed and compared to the traditional system. An actual pilot project is studied as the validation of the prefab quarter system.

Are migrants discriminated against in Chinese urban labour markets?

Abstract We use a nationally representative survey to investigate the incidence of discrimination against internal migrant workers in urban China, considering both migrants from rural areas (rural migrants) and those from other urban areas (urban migrants). We find that both rural and urban migrants are discriminated out of jobs with formal labour contracts. Results also suggest that urban migrants are compensated for working in the informal sector by earning higher wages. There is evidence however of wage discrimination against rural hukou status. A semi-parametric method suggests a larger discrimination against migrants in the upper half of the wage distribution. Discrimination against migrants seems not to decrease as their duration of stay in the urban labour market increases. JEL codes J7; J51; O15; N35

‘Filial son’, the family and identity formation among male migrant workers in urban China

This article is based on an ethnographic study of life histories of 28 rural–urban (internal) migrant men located within southern China. It explores their narratives with a particular focus on changing social relations within the family, from the perspective of migrant sons. It argues that traditional gender norms, such as those attached to being a ‘filial son’, are lived out, albeit reworked, among Chinese male migrant workers across generations. The men recount the role of traditional familial gender norms, which are central cultural resources in forging their ‘dislocated’ identities within specific temporal and spatial conditions. For example, being a ‘filial son’ has become an important reference point for these mobile male workers to actively negotiate their emerging masculine identities in the process of negotiating urban lives, while living away from their rural homes. The article also explores a more complex understanding of rural–urban migration in terms of critically engaging with the men's well-being as urban workers.

Place of Origin and Labour Market Outcomes Among Migrant Workers in Urban China

The localistic enclave is a special kind of enclave in urban China, which is characterized by high concentration of rural migrants from the same place of origin. Prior research has documented that rural migrants work in these localistic enclaves, but the significance of participation in them for labor market outcomes among migrant workers has yet to be determined. In this article, we argue that localistic economic enclaves may improve the labor force outcomes of rural-to-urban migrants. We report results from a study of the social determinants and consequences of working in localistic enclaves, based on data from a 2010 survey of migrant workers in the Pearl River and the Yangzi River Deltas. The results provide limited support for our hypothesis: Localistic enclaves enable migrant workers to earn higher earnings overall, but the earnings returns to human capital in an enclave are limited.

Gender and Work in Urban China – Women Workers in Urban China

Gender and Work in Urban China – Women Workers in Urban China

Life-course experiences of laid-off workers and their attitudes towards migrant workers in urban China

The labour market experiences of laid-off workers from three Chinese cities were analysed to determine how the event of being laid off impacted the lives of the workers over the ten-year period since redundancy. The trajectory for the workers over this period was downward sloping, with many workers descending into poverty. Some have been able to be upwardly mobile, due to social networks (guanxi) or taking advantage of market opportunities through education and training, but many of the workers who were upwardly mobile simply found unskilled jobs, which were less unappealing than manual factory work. Overall mobility, whether up or down, was on a minor scale. Older workers are still the most vulnerable group and require assistance in adjusting to the new labour system. Those workers who are feeling optimistic about their future in the open market and are not threatened by migrant workers, who fill the ranks of the supplementary-service sector, feel that they are contributing to the general increase in pro...

Problems and the Potential Direction of Reforms for the Current Individual Medical Savings Accounts in the Chinese Health Care System

Individual health savings accounts are an important part of the current basic medical insurance system for urban workers in China. Since 1998 when the system of personal medical insurance accounts was first implemented, there has been considerable controversy over its function and significance within different social communities. This paper analyzes the main problems in the practical implementation of individual medical insurance accounts and discusses the social and cultural foundations for the establishment of family health savings accounts from the perspective of Chinese Confucian familism. Accordingly, it addresses the direction of the reform and the development of the current system of individual health insurance accounts in China.

Low‐paid workers in urban China

Abstract:Using CHIP and RUMCI data for 1995, 2002, 2007 and 2008, this article estimates the extent of low pay among local and rural‐migrant workers in urban China. Based on a threshold of two‐thirds of median hourly wages, it finds that a high overall proportion of urban employees are low‐paid. While incidence remained relatively stable among locals between 1995 and 2008, it declined for migrants from 2002 to 2007, though the latter were still much more likely to be in low‐paid jobs. After investigating the determinants and welfare implications of low pay, the authors conclude with an argument for subsidized training, stricter minimum wage enforcement and firm‐level wage bargaining.

Do neighbourhoods have effects on wages? A study of migrant workers in urban China

Rural-to-urban migrant workers have contributed enormously to the Chinese economy and society in the past three decades. Many of them have concentrated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and physically and socially suffered from poor residential environment. However it is unclear how the neighbourhoods—as the provision of shelter, social and public service, and community organizing—influence migrant workers' labour market outcomes. To fill this gap, this paper researches the way in which urban neighbourhoods have affected migrant workers' wages. Factors such as housing quality, social interaction and trust, and neighbourhood organization and participation were examined. Results show that five of eight neighbourhood characteristics had statistically significant effects on wages. Robustness tests were conducted to address endogeneity problems of self-selection and unobserved individual ability. Test results demonstrated that our main findings were generally robust, and thus the causality was solid.

The challenges of establishing basic pension insurance for migrant workers in urban China

Since the late 1990s, migrant workers in China have exhibited little enthusiasm to participate in the basic pension insurance schemes that have been promoted by the central and local governments in China. Previous research found that socioeconomic and family factors might have influenced migrant workers' decision to participate in the basic pension schemes. This article explores the impact of institutional factors on migrant workers' willingness to participate in the scheme, such as the work place, the nature of the enterprise, workers' labour contract status, workers' knowledge of the scheme, as well as their personal contribution rate.

Decomposing wage differentials between migrant workers and urban workers in urban China's labor markets

This paper looks at wage discrimination faced by China's rural–urban migrants. Using data from the China Urban Labour Survey, it uses standard wage decomposition techniques to measure the extent wage gaps between migrants and locals are attributable to migration. Because the survey covers five cities, the results allow for an investigation regarding how much variation in discrimination there is. Unlike previous studies of wage discrimination in China, this research includes a more full measure of remuneration by including non-financial benefits as well as bonuses earned. The results suggest that migrants still face a significant amount of discrimination, but that this varies a lot between cities.

Migration, class and environmental inequality: Exposure to pollution in China's Jiangsu Province

Systematic research into social inequalities in the distribution of environmental hazards, though well-established in American sociology, has largely not been conducted using quantitative data from developing countries. In this study we consider whether theory and methods developed to test for and explain environmental inequality in the U.S. can be extended to a major developing country such as China. We argue that, due in part to the state's hukou registry system, urban workers in China with an official rural residence may be subject to disproportionate exposure to environmental pollution. We also argue that environmental inequalities in China may be shaped in part by social processes analogous to those which have been held to explain racial differences in pollution exposure in the U.S. In an analysis of the locations and emissions of pollution-producing facilities in China's Jiangsu province, we find that townships with a higher percentage of rural migrants are more likely to be exposed to high levels of air and water pollution. This finding holds even after we control for income and for the presence of “dirty and hard” industries in which rural migrants are most likely to find work.

Wage Differentials of Migrants and Urban Register Workers in Urban China: Influences of Inter-industrial Differentials and Intra-industrial Differentials

Wage Differentials of Migrants and Urban Register Workers in Urban China: Influences of Inter-industrial Differentials and Intra-industrial Differentials

The Contact Hypothesis in Urban China: The Perspective of Minority-Status Migrant Workers

ABSTRACT:This study is the first to test Allport’s (1954) contact hypothesis from the perspective of a minority group in China. Employing a sample of off-farm migrant workers in urban China, results indicate a positive effect on self-reported attitudes of intergroup friendship contact between migrant and local workers; and positive effects on self-reported behavioral interaction between migrants and urban locals of both intergroup friendship and intergroup nonfriendship contact.

The impact of job mobility on earnings growth of migrant workers in urban China

Using survey data on migrant workers in urban China, this paper carries out a positive study on the impact of inner-industrial and inter-industrial job shifts on earnings growth of migrant workers. Results show that low human capital, low employment grades and low income are the most important reasons for migrant workers to switch jobs. The migrant workers who are young, unmarried new entrants with low level of education, no training and low income tend to change their jobs within the industry. And those who have high income and who find their jobs by themselves are more likely to switch jobs inter-industrially. Inner-industrial job switches have a significant positive impact on earnings growth of low-income migrant workers and a significant negative one on that of high-income migrant workers. Moreover, inter-industrial shifts have a significant negative impact on earnings growth of migrant workers of all income levels. The inner cause for the positive effect of inner-industrial shifts lie in the fact that the cumulative effect of years of service within enterprises is not obvious while continuing engagement in the same type of job within an industry will lead to accumulation of qualifications, which has a significant augmentation effect on earnings of migrant workers.

Migrants as second-class workers in urban China? A decomposition analysis

In urban China, urban resident annual earnings are 1.3 times larger than long-term rural migrant earnings as observed in a nationally representative sample in 2002. Using microsimulation, we decompose this difference into four sources, with particular attention to path-dependence and statistical distribution of the estimated effects: (1) different allocation to sectors that pay different wages ( sectoral effect); (2) hourly wage disparities across the two populations within sectors ( wage effect); (3) different working times within sectors ( working time effect); and (4) different population structures ( population effect). Although sector allocation is extremely contrasted, with very few migrants in the public sector and very few urban residents working as self-employed, this has no clear impact on earnings differentials, because the sectoral effect is not robust to the path followed for the decomposition. The second main finding is that the population effect is robust and significantly more important than wage or working time effects. This implies that the main source of disparity between the two populations is pre-market (education opportunities) rather than on-market.

Women migrant workers in China: grassroots NGOs facilitating empowerment?

This paper discusses the current situation facing rural female migrant workers in urban China. It is the contention of the author that grassroots NGOs show very real promise as one source of support for such women. These workers, in spite of their immeasurable contribution to the country's economic growth, and their work which furnishes foreign consumers with cheap commodities, remain consistently low-paid, over-worked, marginalised and undervalued. The topic is dealt with in three sections: firstly an overview of the conditions that have prompted a rapid and sustained influx of migrants from rural to urban China during the last three decades; a summary of problems which many migrant women face; the final section will highlight the value of the burgeoning vitality of 'grassroots' NGOs in asking what can be done to support migrant women and to facilitate their empowerment. In the concluding remarks, the author will suggest areas which deserve attention in order to cultivate and harness the potential for NGOs to best work with and serve these women.