Labour Market Reform in China Trade and Development Series

Labour Market Reform in China documents and analyses institutional changes in the Chinese labour market over the last twenty-five years, and argues that further reform is necessary if China is to sustain its high growth rates. The book first assesses the problems associated with the pre-reform labour arrangements. It offers an in-depth analysis of the urban labour market and its impact on individual wage determination, ownership structure, labour compensation and labour demand and of social security reform. In its main chapters, the book investigates the impact of rural economic reform on rural labour market. Detailed consideration is given to the rural agricultural labour market, labour arrangement in the rural non-agricultural sector, and the wage gap between the rural agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Finally, the book examines the phenomenon of rural-urban migration, its impact on rural and urban economic growth, and models its effect on urban employment, unemployment and earnings.

1. Introduction; 2. Pre-reform labour arrangements; Part I. Economic Reform and the Rural Labour Market: 3. The rural agricultural labour market; 4. Labour arrangement in the rural non-agricultural sector; 5. The wage gap between the rural agricultural and non-agricultural sectors; Part II. Urban Labour Market Reforms: 6. Urban labour market and its impact on individual wage determination; 7. Ownership structure, labour compensation and labour demand; 8. Reforming social security; Part III. Rural-Urban Migration: 9. The impact of rural-urban migration; 10. Regional wage differentials and information flows; 11. The two-tier labour market; 12. Reforming China's labour market.