Changing Labour Policies and Organization of Work in China


Book Description

The transformation of China’s economy from a centrally planned to a market-oriented system has had a profound impact on management systems and practices at the firm level, particularly changes to the organization of work. One of the consequences of this is increasing social disparity reflected through inequality of employees’ income and employment conditions. This book, based on extensive original research including interviews and questionnaire surveys in different regions of China, explores the exact nature of these changes and their effects. It examines state-owned enterprises, foreign-owned enterprises and domestic private enterprises, discusses the extent to which employees are satisfied with their employment conditions and whether they think their employment conditions are fair and outlines how managers and employees in China expect conditions to change in future.




The Challenge of Labour in China


Book Description

China's economic success has been founded partly on relatively cheap labour. In recent years however there has been growing concern about wages and labour standards in China. This book examines how wages are bargained, fought over and determined in China, exploring how the pattern of labour conflict has changed over time.




Negotiating Our Way Up Collective Bargaining in a Changing World of Work


Book Description

Collective bargaining and workers’ voice are often discussed in the past rather than in the future tense, but can they play a role in the context of a rapidly changing world of work? This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the functioning of collective bargaining systems and workers’ voice arrangements across OECD countries, and new insights on their effect on labour market performance today.




Against the Law


Book Description

This study opens a critical perspective on the slow death of socialism and the rebirth of capitalism in the world's most dynamic and populous country. Based on remarkable fieldwork and extensive interviews in Chinese textile, apparel, machinery, and household appliance factories, Against the Law finds a rising tide of labor unrest mostly hidden from the world's attention. Providing a broad political and economic analysis of this labor struggle together with fine-grained ethnographic detail, the book portrays the Chinese working class as workers' stories unfold in bankrupt state factories and global sweatshops, in crowded dormitories and remote villages, at street protests as well as in quiet disenchantment with the corrupt officialdom and the fledgling legal system.




How Migrant Labor is Changing Rural China


Book Description

Her analysis focuses on the human experiences and strategies that precipitate shifts in national and local policies for economic development; she also examines the responses of migrants, nonmigrants, and officials to changing circumstances, obstacles, and opportunities. This pioneering study is rich in original source materials and anecdotes and also offers useful, comparative examples from other developing countries."--Jacket.




Working Time Around the World


Book Description

First Published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




Understanding Labor and Employment Law in China


Book Description

Continued economic prosperity in China and its international competitive advantage have been due in large part to the labor of workers in China, who for many years toiled in underregulated workplaces. More recently, labor law reforms have been praised for their progressive measures and, at the same time, blamed for placing too many economic burdens on companies, especially those operating on the margins, which in some cases have caused business failures. This, combined with the global downturn and the millions of displaced and unemployed Chinese migrant laborers, has created ongoing debate about the labor laws. Meanwhile, the Chinese Union has organized many of the Global Fortune 500 companies, and a form of collective bargaining is occurring. Workers are pursuing their legal labor rights in increasing numbers. This book provides a clear overview of the labor and employment law environment in China and its legal requirements, as well as practices under these laws used to deal with labor issues.




Decent Work and the Informal Economy


Book Description

Describes the informal economy and highlights its decent work deficit. Proposes an integrated strategy to address underlying causes of informality and to promote decent work in all sectors of the economy, from formal to informal.




Global Governance of Labour Rights


Book Description

Stories and images of collapsed factories, burned down sweatshops, imprisoned migrant workers, child workers and many other violations of internationally recognized labour rights continue to spread across the globe. This highly topical book examines the different instruments which are intended to protect labour rights on a transnational scale, and asks whether they make a difference. With perspectives from law, management, sociology, political science and political economy, the topics discussed include the protection of international labour rights in a globalizing economy, the EU’s social dimension in its external trade relations, Asian and US perspectives on labour rights in international trade agreements, the role of (trade) unions in global labour governance and the transformative capacity of private labour governance regimes. Academics and advanced students from different disciplines will benefit from the up-to-date empirical material in this study. Policymakers, NGOs and Unions will find the discussions of the instruments used to protect labour rights of great value to their work.




China's Rebalancing and Gender Inequality


Book Description

This paper examines gender inequality in the context of structural transformation and rebalancing in China. We document declining women's relative wages and labor force participation in China during the last two decades, despite rapid growth and expansion of the service sector. Using household data, we provide evidence consistent with a U-shaped relationship between economic development and women's labor market outcomes. Using a model of structural transformation, we show that labor market barriers for women have increased over time. Model counterfactuals suggest that removing these barriers and increasing service sector productivity can boost both gender equality and economic growth in China.