China's 2008 Labor Contract Law: Implementation and Implications for China's Workers

Arbeitspapier

This paper presents empirical evidence from household and firm survey data collected during 2009-2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law and its effects on China's workers. The government and local labor bureaus have made substantial efforts to enforce the provisions of the new law, which has likely contributed to reversing a trend toward increasing informalization of the urban labor market. Enforcement of the law, however, varies substantially across cities. The paper analyzes the determinants of worker satisfaction with the enforcement of the law, the propensity of workers to have a labor contract, workers' awareness of the content of the law, and their likelihood of initiating disputes. The paper finds that all of these factors are highly correlated with the level of education, especially for migrants. Although higher labor costs may have had a negative impact on manufacturing employment growth, this has not led to an overall increase in aggregate unemployment or prevented the rapid growth of real wages. Less progress has been made in increasing social insurance coverage, although signing a labor contract is more likely to be associated with participation in social insurance programs than in the past, particularly for migrant workers.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7555

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Labor Economics Policies ; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ; Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy ; Labor Contracts ; Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation; Collective Bargaining ; Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence ; Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration ; Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
• Thema: gender ; social insurance ; informal sector ; labor regulations ; migration ; China

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Gallagher, Mary ; Giles, John T. ; Park, Albert ; Wang, Meiyan
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (wo): Bonn
• (wann): 2013

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89819
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 20.09.2024, 08:22 MESZ