IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fec/journl/v11y2016i2p265-301.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Labour Markets in China: A Study of the Structure and Evolution of Wages

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaobing Wang

    (Department of Economics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK)

  • Jenifer Piesse

    (Department of Management, King¡¯s College London, London, SE1 9NH, UK; University of stellenbosch, South Africa)

  • Zhengmao Ye

    (Key Laboratory of Mathematical Economics, Ministry of Education; and School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China)

Abstract

This paper examines the development of labour markets and the evolution of a structure of wages in China, using household surveys for 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. It finds evidence of both provincial and sectoral segmentation in labour markets, with eastern regions and the state-controlled sector enjoying high wage premiums in the early reform period. During the reform, China has progressed slowly towards an integrated labour market with convergence in incomes between the rural non-agriculture sector and the urban market-based sector by 1995, when industry flourished in the rural areas. The wage gap between the rural non-agriculture sector and other sectors increased and the urban state-controlled sector remained segmented with respect to all other sectors up to 2002. However, the data from 2007 show there has been increasing sectoral and spatial integration.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaobing Wang & Jenifer Piesse & Zhengmao Ye, 2016. "Labour Markets in China: A Study of the Structure and Evolution of Wages," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 11(2), pages 265-301, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:fec:journl:v:11:y:2016:i:2:p:265-301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://journal.hep.com.cn/fec/EN/10.3868/s060-005-016-0016-7
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nanak Kakwani & Xiaobing Wang & Ning Xue & Peng Zhan, 2022. "Growth and Common Prosperity in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(1), pages 28-57, January.
    2. Peter Rangazas & Xiaobing Wang & Yuxiang Zou, 2022. "China's efficient urban bias," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 223-253, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; labour markets; wage structure; migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fec:journl:v:11:y:2016:i:2:p:265-301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Frank H. Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.