Do workers benefit from economic upgrading in the Pearl River Delta, China?

Economic upgrading (EU) is being undertaken in China to address numerous problems. However, its social consequences have not received considerable attention. This study selects the Pearl River Delta, where EU is prominent, to examine whether and how workers have benefited from EU process. The data used are from the 2012 and 2014 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey and self-conducted interviews, both of which cover measurable standards and enabling rights of workers. Based on the results of direct comparison and linear/logistic regression, this study argues that EU has a positive effect on social upgrading (SU) because state intervention and regulation play a shaping role in balancing the EU and SU. China’s state has achieved a good balance among its roles of facilitation, regulation, and distribution. Compared to SU on enabling rights, SU on measurable standards is likely to occur because measurable standards are easily quantified and observed and thus are at the center of workers’ occupational conditions at this stage. The state is inclined to pay more attention to measurable standards than enabling rights. The mechanism through which local states interfere with different aspects of SU considerably varies. Local states adopt flexible governance to strike the right balance between EU and SU.