What Can Latin America Learn from China's Labour Market Reforms?

Analysts typically see labour institutions in advanced countries as defining the ways in which developing economies can organize their labour markets. International agencies often pose the choice as one between a US-style decentralized market-driven system, or a European Union (EU)-style system in which industrial or regional unions bargain collectively with employer federations to produce agreements that governments may extend to all firms and workers in the sector. This chapter argues that developing country labour markets differ so much from those in advanced countries that developing countries can benefit more from the experience the labour markets in other developing countries rather than from the labour markets of advanced economies. The range and performance of labour institutions among advanced and developing countries is examined. Then China’s labour institutions and labour market reforms are compared to Latin American institutions and reforms.