Determinants of Self-employment in China： Evidence from Cross-regional Data

This paper presents and tests a series of sources of regional variations in self‐employment rate in China in the 2000s, and illustrates that the stage of economic development is a major explanation for the variations of self‐employment rate across regions over the past decade. The negative relationship between the stage of economic development and self‐employment rate identified in the paper indicates that China has entered the process of fast industrialization, and self‐employment is playing a diminishing role in economic growth and employment. We also find a substitution effect between self‐employment and private enterprises. While both are important components of China's private sector, private enterprises are becoming an increasingly important source of China's economic growth and employment. Furthermore, our findings also imply that when job opportunities are limited, self‐employment in China is likely a forced choice of disadvantaged people who are not qualified for wage jobs.     

UNION EFFECT ON THE USE OF NON‐REGULAR LABOR IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Our paper aims at analyzing the union effect on the externalization of employment relations, focusing on how labor unions affect management's strategic use of non‐regular labor within the Korean context of industrial relations. Our study presents several interesting implications. Firstly, the unions' motivator role for managerial use of non‐regular labor is more evident than its constrainer role. Secondly, union power exerts a “U‐type” impact on the use of indirect non‐regular labor, while affecting directly employed non‐regular labor in a positive linear way. Thirdly, labor unions in large establishments are more active and influential in representing their members' interests than their counterparts in small establishments with limited financial resources. In particular, the interactive function of the union's power and union leaders' attitudinal inclinations is found to be significant in the negative direction among large establishments.     

Why Do Chinese Private Enterprises Seek Outward Foreign Direct Investment?

China is currently in a period of economic transformation and the reform of the factor market still lags behind that of the product market. This study explores the reasons causing China's private enterprise to expand abroad from the perspective of domestic factor market imperfection. Using data for Chinese listed firms between 2002 and 2020, it examines whether outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has been undertaken by private enterprises as a response to domestic factor market imperfection. It finds that private enterprises located in regions with greater factor market imperfection have had a greater tendency to engage in OFDI. This effect has been more pronounced among firms with high productivity or high innovation capability, and among medium and small private enterprises.     

金融科技能否助推民营企业创新发展？——来自中国上市民营企业数据的实证研究

金融科技已经全面融入各行各业。民营企业作为经济高质量发展的重要推动力量,与金融有着天然的互补性,特别是上市民营企业,离不开金融科技的支持,金融科技助力民营企业创新发展已经成为大势所趋。通过对2011—2020年中国A股上市民营企业数据和省级数字普惠金融指数进行实证研究发现,金融科技能够显著提升上市民营企业创新绩效,有效缓解融资约束问题。因此,应持续推进金融科技的发展,充分发挥金融科技对民营企业的创新推动作用。     

The costs and benefits of government control: Evidence from China's collectively-owned enterprises

China's collectively-owned enterprises are unconventional, as they are nominally owned by those people residing in the areas where the enterprises are located but effectively controlled by the local governments. This study finds that collectively-owned enterprises, once being privatized, encounter an increase in the cost of goods sold to sales ratio but manage to lower down the managerial expenses to sales ratio. The findings imply that local government officials may help collectively-owned enterprises gain access to cheaper production inputs, but they may use those enterprises to pursue private benefits, thereby shedding lights on the costs and benefits of government control.     

How Will the Implementation of Zero Tariffs Affect Employment in China?

This paper studies the employment effect of China's possible implementation of zero tariffs by comparing China's most‐favored‐nation tariffs and the tariff schedules of China's signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the tariff concessions in a typical high‐standard FTA. It finds that there is a large gap between China's current tariff status and a high‐standard FTA, and the implementation of zero tariffs in China would have a significant negative impact on employment in some industries. However, the employment effect of implementing zero tariffs is heterogeneous. Analysis at the industrial level shows that, although employment would drop in a few industries as a result of the implementation of zero tariffs, more jobs would be created in most industries. The overall employment effect of a zero tariff policy would be positive, creating an estimated 8.05 million jobs in China. Therefore, China should consider the adjustment costs brought by the labor movement in different industries and introduce relevant policies to deal with the employment shocks caused by zero tariffs.     

State-owned Enterprises in China as Macroeconomic Stabilizers: Their Special Function in Times of Economic Policy Uncertainty

China has many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and they have accounted for a large proportion of China's GDP over the last four decades. China's rapid growth contradicts literature that focuses on the inefficiency of SOEs. This study shows that, in periods of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), SOEs have performed a special function as “macroeconomic stabilizers.” Using Chinese listed firm data from 2008 to 2019, we investigate five aspects of SOEs' unique functions as macroeconomic stabilizers: employment, investment, growth, financial operation, and expectations. When EPU increased, SOEs had more employment, higher investment expenditure, lower performance volatility, more robust financial structures, and more stable expectations than private firms. We employ the US–China trade war as an exogenous shock on EPU to conduct a difference-in-difference-in-differences approach to mitigate the problem of potentially omitted variables. The findings of this study provide a new perspective to better explain the functions of SOEs in the 21st century.     

Financial Intermediation Development and Economic Growth： Does the Chinese Counterexample Exist？

In terms of the degree-of-freedom of bank loan decision-making, the ratio of loans of private enterprises and individuals to total loans is used to measure the development of China ＇s financial intermediation. Applying generalized method of moments estimation developed for dynamic panel data models, the present paper finds that the effect of financial intermediation development on economic growth is positive and statistieally significant when controlling for other variables, such as human capital foreign direct investment, securitization and foreign trade. The empirical results indicate that the concept of the so-called Chinese counterexample in financial development is questionable. Financial system reforms, including encouraging banks to operate independently, reducing or eliminating mandatory loans, and maldngfinancial decision-making more market-oriented, are important for China＇s economic growth.     

Off-farm employment and agricultural specialization in China

While it is well known that China's off farm labor market is emerging rapidly, less is known about the effect of movement off the farm on the farming practices of those that have continued to farm. The overall goal of this paper is to analyze the effects of changes in China's off farm employment on one aspect of the performance of China's agricultural sector: the emergence of specialization in farming. To achieve this goal, we have three specific objectives. First, we document the changes in the flow of labor out of China's villages. Second, we examine how specialization in farming has changed over time. Third, we examine the association between off farm labor flows and specialization. Using panel data from a national representative data collected by the authors between 1999 and 2008, the analysis finds that off farm employment is indeed rising rapidly. At the same time, specialization is occurring off and on the farm. There is a strong and robust correlation between off farm employment and on farm specialization. The results imply that China's agriculture has responded dynamically to the modernization happening elsewhere in the economy.     

Union and Debt: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms

Do unions really matter in China? Using a dataset containing more than 110 thousand Chinese private manufacturing firms, this paper is the first attempt to examine how unions' bargaining power affects firms' capital structures. We find that: (1) the firms' debt levels are often positively associated with their unions' bargaining powers; (2) when a firm is in financial distress, the management is more likely to issue more debt to strengthen its bargaining power against the union and increase its residual income; (3) compared with long-term debt, short-term debt is a better option for the management to increase its bargaining power and residual income. Our research indicates that the unions of private Chinese firms are an important policy instrument for the management rather than useless decorations, which provides valuable insights for us to understand the employee–employer relations and firms' capital structures in emerging economies.     

“三方协调”机制:民营企业和谐劳动关系的框架构建

正确处理劳动关系,是构建"和谐社会"的重要内容。调整好民营企业劳动关系,妥善处理好这些问题和矛盾,在民营企业内部建立合作、共赢的劳动关系,成为理论界、企业界和政府关注的焦点。本文从民营企业劳动关系存在的问题出发,对劳动关系的运作机制进行分析,提出了构建民营企业和谐劳动关系的对策,即建立起包括政府、企业主组织、工会在内的"三方协调"机制。     

数字经济背景下互联网的使用对民营企业员工性别工资差距的影响——基于员工受教育层次差异化特征的分析

基于2017年中国综合社会调查的民营企业员工数据,使用稳健最小二乘回归与Oaxaca分解法研究发现:互联网的使用将对未接受过教育以及仅接受过私塾扫盲班/小学教育的民营企业员工工资产生显著的负向影响;互联网的使用将对接受过初中及以上教育的民营企业员工工资产生显著的正向影响;随着民营企业员工受教育水平的提升,互联网的使用对民营企业女性员工工资的弹性影响远超男性;互联网的使用将扩大未接受过教育的民营企业女性员工与男性员工的工资差距;互联网的使用将缩小接受过私塾扫盲班/小学及以上教育的民营企业女性员工与男性员工的工资差距.据此提出,应加大公益互联网使用培训力度,以提升女性的互联网理性使用水平、加强清扫虚假网络平台以防止受教育层次较低女性误入歧途、鼓励女性自主接受多元化再教育以提升自身互联网理性使用水平等,以缩小民营企业员工性别工资差距.     

基于“三方协调”机制的民营企业劳动关系构建

文章以民营企业劳动关系存在的问题为切入点，对劳动关系的运行机制进行了分析，提出了构建民营企业和谐劳动关系的对策，即建立起包括政府、企业主组织、工会在内的“三方协调”机制。     

Japanese Enterprises＇ Investment in China＇s Software Industry

I. Overall Conditions of Investment by Japanese Enterprises in China Starting from the 1980s, investment by Japanese enterprises in China has been growing continuously. In 2004, Japanese investors established 3454 firms in China, 6.15 percent more than in 2003. Contractual foreign investment amounted to US$9.162bn, 15.17 percent up from 2003, whereas the foreign investment actually used was US$5.452bn, up by 7.86 percent from 2003. In 2004, the number of newly established Japanese enterp…     

Does the Domestic Value Added Induced by China＇s Exports Really Belong to China？

Since 2001, the exports of foreign‐invested enterprises (FIEs) have accounted for more than 50 percent of China's total exports. As foreign capital occupies a high proportion of the total capital of FIEs, most FIEs' capital gains are foreign factor income. Although these gains are calculated as a part of China's GDP, they do not belong to China's national income. To determine the real contribution of exports to China's welfare, the present paper analyses the impact of exports on China's national income using a non‐competitive input–output model capturing processing trade. The results show that every US$1000 of China's exports generates US$506.8 of national income. The real contribution of exports to China's welfare is much smaller than what we expected. This suggests that China should endeavor to improve the gains from international markets or find another engine to maintain its economic growth.     

INSTITUTIONAL WAGE EFFECTS: REVISITING UNION AND BARGAINING COUNCIL WAGE PREMIA IN SOUTH AFRICA

The literature on the union wage gap in South Africa is extensive, spanning a range of data sets and methodologies. There is, however, little consensus on the appropriate method to correct for the endogeneity of union membership or the size of the union wage gap. Furthermore, there are very few studies on the bargaining council wage premium in South Africa because of lack of data on the coverage of employees under these agreements. Our study, using 2005 Labour Force Survey data, firstly reconsiders the union wage gap controlling for both firm‐level and job characteristics. When correcting for the endogeneity of union status through a two‐stage selection model and including firm size, type of employment, and non‐wage benefits, we find a much lower union wage premium for African workers in the formal sector than premiums reported in some previous studies. Secondly, our study estimates bargaining council wage premiums for the private and public sectors. We find that extension procedures are present in both private and public bargaining council systems but that unions negotiate for additional gains for their members at the plant level. Furthermore, there is some evidence that unions negotiate for awards for their members in the private sector irrespective of bargaining council coverage.     

State Pension Accounting Estimates and Strong Public Unions

Concerns are commonly raised that strong public unions extract generous pension benefits from state governments and are the cause of states' burdensome pension obligations. Prior research (Anzia and Moe 2015) finds evidence supporting such concerns. Consistent with incentives to minimize such perceptions, our findings suggest that state pension plans with stronger public unions select higher discount rates to improve reported funding levels. While riskier asset allocations are used to support the higher discount rates (which equal the expected return on the plan assets), most of the higher rates appear opportunistic. In addition, consistent with a desire to avoid drawing attention to persistent plan underfunding, our evidence indicates that stronger union plans are less likely to select longer amortization periods to recognize pension deficits when underfunding is larger. We do not, however, find evidence for asset smoothing periods being used to delay the recognition of investment losses on plan assets. Together, our findings suggest that stronger union plans take steps to make their pension obligations look less burdensome to the public.     

Union membership and campaign contributions

Summary and Conclusions Laws governing labor relations in the United States are written in a manner which gives significant monopoly power to unions and also creates an incentive for workers to support union security arrangements. These laws would serve to reduce the gains which workers receive from unionization. They would also serve to increase the surplus which unions extract from their members. The argument that an important part of these laws is the creation of rents which can be transferred to the politicians who support laws. An examination of the effect of right-to-work laws on political contribution received by candidates for office indicates that, as the theory would predict, the existence of such laws serves to significantly reduce the contributions from unions. This reduction occurs largely because these laws reduce the number of union members who contribute; they do not seem to change the contributions per union member. The authors hypothesize that it is the monopolization which increases per member contributions, though testing this hypothesis is not possible. Nonetheless, it is the authors' belief that the empirical results have demonstrated the form of the laws mandating unions is explained by the interaction between the union and the politicians who support unionization.     

新时代民营经济企业家队伍建设：经验成效、当前问题及可能的突破方向

在复杂的国际局势下，虽然民营企业近期发展受挫，但民营企业家队伍仍是推动国家经济持续前行的关键支柱。首先，基于钻石模型剖析十八大以来我国民营企业家队伍在蓬勃发展等四个方面取得的显著成果。其次，利用三角模型对民营企业家队伍建设中的三大问题进行了系统的分析与诊断。最后，从强化民营企业家队伍政治性等六个维度出发，为民营企业家队伍建设提出了具体建议。     

The snakes and ladders of 21st-century trade unionism

Trade unions in the advanced countries face a difficult future.Their core membership bases in manufacturing industry and publicservices have become declining sectors of employment. Keynesiandemand management, on which they depended for tight labour markets,has collapsed. Most industrial relations activity has shiftedto the enterprise level, which they often find difficult topenetrate. Precarious employment, which makes union membershipdifficult, is growing. On the other hand, certain advantagesoffset these weaknesses. For a number of different recent economicand political élites often need the support of tradeunions for national social pacts. Also, employment conditionscontinue to create new social problems for working people, whichonly unions can express. Unions in different countries encounterthese combinations of favourable and unfavourable prospectsin very different ways, which is likely to produce increasingdiversity among the emerging national patterns.