IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v36y2003i4p297-314.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional Unemployment in Transitional China: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Zhongmin Wu

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explain the pattern of regional unemployment in transitional China. A model is developed to explore how urban unemployment in the provinces is influenced by peasants' wages, formal sector wages, and the size of the formal sector. Evidence from panel data suggests that a significant indicator of high unemployment rates is greater Urban–Rural Income Inequality within the province. The hypothesis is that the urban–rural income gap produces migration, and more rural migrants substitute for urban workers, causing further urban unemployment. Since the economic reforms began in 1978, the non-state owned enterprises have been carrying an increasing weight in the economy, and they have contributed significantly to the rapid economic growth of China. Empirical evidence shows that economic reforms have reduced unemployment. The provinces that are still heavily dependent on the state sector are therefore more likely to experience higher unemployment. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2003

Suggested Citation

  • Zhongmin Wu, 2003. "Regional Unemployment in Transitional China: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 297-314, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:36:y:2003:i:4:p:297-314
    DOI: 10.1023/B:ECOP.0000038297.99560.44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/B:ECOP.0000038297.99560.44
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1023/B:ECOP.0000038297.99560.44?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Viren, Matti, 2001. "The Okun curve is non-linear," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 253-257, February.
    2. Gustman, Alan L & Steinmeier, Thomas L, 1981. "The Impact of Wages and Unemployment on Youth Enrollment and Labor Supply," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(4), pages 553-560, November.
    3. Fleisher, Belton M. & Yin, Yong & Hills, Stephen M., 1997. "The role of housing privatization and labor-market reform in China's dual economy," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17.
    4. Sebastian Edwards & Alejandra Cox Edwards, 2000. "Economic Reforms and Labor Markets: Policy Issues and Lessons from Chile," NBER Working Papers 7646, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Barry McCormick, 1990. "A Theory of Signalling During Job Search, Employment Efficiency, and "Stigmatised" Jobs," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(2), pages 299-313.
    6. Sebastian Edwards & Alejandra Cox Edwards, 2000. "Economic reforms and labour markets: policy issues and lessons from Chile," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 15(30), pages 182-229.
    7. Zhao, Yaohui, 1999. "Labor Migration and Earnings Differences: The Case of Rural China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(4), pages 767-782, July.
    8. Benziger, Vincent, 1996. "Urban Access and Rural Productivity Growth in Post-Mao China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(3), pages 539-570, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Fidrmuc & Shuo Huang, 2013. "Unemployment, Growth and Speed of Transition in China," CESifo Working Paper Series 4410, CESifo.
    2. Zhongwei Zhao & Hongbo Jia & Mengxue Chen, 2020. "Major Socioeconomic Driving Forces of Improving Population Health in China: 1978–2018," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(4), pages 643-676, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pierre‐Richard Agénor, 2004. "Macroeconomic Adjustment and the Poor: Analytical Issues and Cross‐Country Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 351-408, July.
    2. Claudio Montenegro & Carmen Pagés, 2005. "Who Benefits from Labor Market Regulations? Chile 1960-1998," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Jorge Restrepo & Andrea Tokman R. & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Edi (ed.),Labor Markets and Institutions, edition 1, volume 8, chapter 4, pages 077-114, Central Bank of Chile.
    3. Lay, Jann & Wiebelt, Manfred, 2001. "Towards a dual education system - a labour market perspective on poverty reduction in Bolivia," Kiel Working Papers 1073, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Jeffrey Frankel, 2012. "What Small Countries Can Teach the World," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 47(2), pages 97-103, April.
    5. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Jonathan A. Parker, 2007. "Taxes and Growth in a Financially Underdeveloped Country: Evidence from the Chilean Investment Boom," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2007), pages 1-53, August.
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Jara, H. Xavier & Rivera, David, 2024. "Tax disincentives to formal employment in Latin America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125368, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Veldkamp, Laura, 2009. "Learning about reform: Time-varying support for structural adjustment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 192-206, March.
    8. Fugazza, Marco & Fiess, Norbert M. & Maloney, William, 2002. "Exchange rate appreciations, labor market rigidities, and informality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2771, The World Bank.
    9. Jung, Juergen & Tran, Chung, 2012. "The extension of social security coverage in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 439-458.
    10. Mr. Martin Schindler & Ms. Mariya Aleksynska, 2011. "Labor Market Regulations in Low-, Middle- and High-Income Countries: A New Panel Database," IMF Working Papers 2011/154, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Zhongmin Wu, 2003. "The persistence of regional unemployment: evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(12), pages 1417-1421.
    12. Willmore, Larry, 2007. "Universal Pensions for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 24-51, January.
    13. Jeffrey Frankel, 2013. "A Solution to Fiscal Procyclicality: The Structural Budget Institutions Pioneered by Chile," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Luis Felipe Céspedes & Jordi Galí (ed.),Fiscal Policy and Macroeconomic Performance, edition 1, volume 17, chapter 9, pages 323-391, Central Bank of Chile.
    14. Alberto Naudon D. & Andrés Pérez M., 2018. "Unemployment dynamics in Chile: 1960-2015," Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 21(1), pages 004-033, April.
    15. Barr, Abigail & Packard, Truman, 2002. "Revealed preference and self-insurance - Can we learn from the self-employed in Chile?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2754, The World Bank.
    16. Ansgar Belke & Daniel Gros, 2003. "The Cost of Financial Market Variability in the Southern Cone," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 54(5), pages 1091-1115.
    17. Kaiji Chen & Alfonso Irarrazabal, 2015. "The Role of Allocative Efficiency in a Decade of Recovery," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(3), pages 523-550, July.
    18. Frankel, Jeffrey A., 2011. "A Solution to Overoptimistic Forecasts and Fiscal Procyclicality: The Structural Budget Institutions Pioneered by Chile," Scholarly Articles 4723209, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    19. repec:ilo:ilowps:462962 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Tejada, Mauricio M., 2017. "Dual labor markets and labor protection in an estimated search and matching model," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 26-46.
    21. Puyana, Alicia., 2011. "Economic growth, employment and poverty reduction : a comparative analysis of Chile and Mexico," ILO Working Papers 994629623402676, International Labour Organization.

    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:kap:ecopln:v:36:y:2003:i:4:p:297-314. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.