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How has Economic Restructuring Affected China's Urban Workers?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2006

John Giles ,
Albert Park  and
Fang Cai
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Abstract

Using data from the China Urban Labour Survey conducted in five large Chinese cities at year end 2001, we quantify the nature and magnitude of shocks to employment and worker benefits during the period of economic restructuring from 1996 to 2001, and evaluate the extent to which adversely affected urban workers had access to public and private assistance. Employment shocks were large and widespread, and were particularly hard on older workers and women. During the period of economic restructuring, unemployment reached double figures in all sample cities and labour force participation declined by 8.9 per cent. Urban residents faced modest levels of wage and pension arrears, and sharp declines in health benefits. Public assistance programmes for dislocated workers had limited coverage, with most job-leavers relying upon private assistance to support consumption, mainly from other household members.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 185 , March 2006 , pp. 61 - 95
Copyright
The China Quarterly, 2006

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Footnotes

The authors acknowledge grants to support field research from Michigan State University (Intramural Research Grants Program), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Ford Foundation, and the University of Michigan (Rackham Faculty Research Grant), and support for follow-up research from the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (Academy Scholars Program) and the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. We thank seminar participants at the University of Michigan, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Washington, and Stanford University for helpful comments.