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Does Communist party membership pay? Estimating the economic returns to party membership in the labor market in China

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  • McLaughlin, Joanne Song

Abstract

Many studies have found that Chinese Communist party membership brings economic benefits to party members, but some studies also argue that the premium associated with party membership is merely due to members’ higher levels of ability and advantageous family backgrounds. The lack of consensus on the economic returns of party membership implies that the role of party membership is not well understood. This study estimates the economic returns to Chinese Communist party membership using complementary approaches to address the endogeneity of party membership status: propensity score matching and instrumental variable. Although the magnitudes of these estimates vary across estimators, all the estimates show positive economic returns to party membership. This paper also examines possible mechanisms for how party membership may bring benefits to members and provides evidence that party membership may generate political capital, but not social capital in the labor market in China.

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  • McLaughlin, Joanne Song, 2017. "Does Communist party membership pay? Estimating the economic returns to party membership in the labor market in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 963-983.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:4:p:963-983
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2016.09.009
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    2. Deter, Max & Lange, Martin, 2023. "Are the supporters of socialism the losers of capitalism? Conformism in East Germany and transition success," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Zagler, Martin & Amighini, Alessia & Fang, Weidi, 2023. "On the evolution of the wage premium for party membership in China," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 351, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    4. Balakumar, Suganya & Maitra, Debasish, 2023. "Do political connections or elite capture matter in access to financial services? Evidence from Indian households," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    5. 岩﨑, 一郎 & Iwasaki, Ichiro & 馬, 欣欣 & Ma, Xin Xin, 2019. "現代中国における男女賃金格差: メタ分析による接近," Discussion Paper Series 689, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    6. Li Yang & Filip Novokmet & Branko Milanovic, 2019. "From workers to capitalists in less than two generations: A study of Chinese urban elite transformation between 1988 and 2013," Working Papers hal-02876990, HAL.
    7. Max Deter, 2020. "Are the Losers of Communism the Winners of Capitalism? The Effects of Conformism in the GDR on Transition Success," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1102, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    8. Targa, Matteo & Yang, Li, 2023. "The impact of communist party membership on wealth distribution and accumulation in urban China," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-057, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Ma, Xinxin, 2020. "Gender wage gap in China: a large meta-analysis," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 54, pages 1-17.
    10. Xinxin Ma, 2019. "The Impact of Membership of the Communist Party of China on Wages," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2839-2856.
    11. Xinxin Ma & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2021. "Does communist party membership bring a wage premium in China? a meta-analysis," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 55-94, January.
    12. Zhang, Zili & Hu, Xiao & Zhang, Xuanxuan & Zheng, Rong, 2024. "Do tougher drinking policies affect men's smoking behavior - Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    13. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Ma, Xinxin, 2020. "Gender Wage Gap in China: A Large Meta-Analysis," CEI Research Paper Series 2020-5, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Li, Bin & Pan, Ailing & Xu, Lei & Liu, Xin & Qin, Shuqian, 2020. "Imprinting and peer effects in acquiring state ownership: Evidence from private firms in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Qirui Ju, 2024. "Multidimensional inequality in Chinese economics academia," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 2643-2676, December.
    16. , Matteo & Yang, Li, 2023. "The Impact of Communist Party Membership on Wealth Distribution and Accumulation in Urban China," SocArXiv y4pwa, Center for Open Science.
    17. Cheng, Zhiming, 2022. "Communist Party branch and labour rights: Evidence from Chinese entrepreneurs," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Targa, Matteo & Yang, Li, 2024. "The impact of Communist Party membership on wealth distribution and accumulation in urban China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chinese communist party membership; Economic returns; Wage premium; Chinese labor market; Political capital; Social capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

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