Labor Regulations,Employment and Wages: Evidence from India's Apparel Sector

While India is among the world's largest producers and exporters of apparel products, the sector has not performed to its potential. This study analyzes why this might be so from the perspective of the structure of production in the sector, the most striking aspect of which is a firm size distribution heavily dominated by small firms. Using nationally representative firm‐level and labor force survey data, we argue that the dominance of firms operating at scales too small to apply modern production and management technologies is one proximate reason for India's relative underperformance. Further, we note that India's labor regulations and the associated enforcement regime are important policy drivers of Indian firms' tendency to avoid placing “too many workers under one roof”.     

Firm Organization,Technology And Performance: An Empirical Study ∗

The purpose of the study is to characterize different styles of work organization in French firms and their current changes and to link them to the use of specific technologies and to firms performance. The data which are used arc of two kinds: a labor force survey (1 470 blue collar) and a business survey (7 089 firms). We show that two main variables create differences among firms' organization devices: the intensity of communication within the workshop and the level of autonomy of workers (facing technological and hierarchical constraints). The use of advanced technologies and the skill of the labor force are positively linked to both organizational variables. Therefore. ‘Communicating organization’ and organizational innovation seem to aim at creating conditions for individual and collective learning on new technologies. They also enhance the ability of the firm to adapt to changing market conditions through technological innovation and inventory reduction, These views are supported by econometric estimation.     

Labor productivity of small and large manufacturing firms: the case of Taiwan

This work studies the factors influencing the labor productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms using Taiwan as a case study. A special emphasis is placed on two possible international channels: exports and foreign direct investment (FDI). Different from conventional studies, we employ the two-stage switching regressions to correct the firm-size effect on labor productivity and estimate labor productivity for SMEs and large firms. The main findings are as follows. First, the estimates of the selectivity variable are statistically significant for both SMEs and large firms, supporting the hypothesis of correcting the effect of firm-size truncation. Second, while a larger trade intensity significantly increases the labor productivity of SMEs, it deteriorates significantly that of large firms. Third, FDI enhances the labor productivity of SMEs internally, whereas it has a negative spillover on that of other small and large firms in the industry. While the first outcome lends supports to the role of self-selection, the remaining stands in sharp contrast to conventional wisdom.     

HR外包服务商在劳动关系中的功能研究

激烈的产品市场竞争和波动性的劳动力市场供求关系,推动着企业在不断调整其人力资源获取和管理中的制度选择。HR外包服务商为企业降低用工成本,提升组织柔性提供了必要的外部支持[1]。本研究分析了具有不同组织特征的HR外包服务商对客户企业内部劳动关系的影响作用,同时比较了外包商与工会和企业的HR部门在劳动关系中的功能差异;其研究结论反映了HR外包商在企业劳动关系发展中的功能定位,从而为人才外包服务产业的可持续发展指出了方向。     

Inequality and Income Distribution in Global Value Chains

Global value chains (GVCs), led by transnational corporations (TNCs), have reshaped the world division of labor over the past two decades. GVCs are pervasive in low technology manufacturing, such as textile and apparel, as well as in more advanced industries like automobiles, electronics, and machines. This hierarchical division of labor generates wild competition at the lower value-added stages of production, where low wages and low profit margins prevail for workers and contract manufacturers in developing countries. At the top of the hierarchy another kind of competition prevails, centered on the ability to monitor and control intellectual property rights related to innovation, finance, and marketing. We argue that GVCs have had crucial effects on income inequality and the appropriation of rents in modern capitalism.     

The effects of labor regulation on firms and exports: Evidence from Indian apparel manufacturing

We examine the impact of labor regulations on firm outcomes and explore their differential effects on exporters. Building on a conceptual framework developed from standard theory and a detailed qualitative study of India's apparel industry, our econometric analysis exploits establishment-level data on formal Indian garment manufacturers between 2009-10 and 2013-14 and interstate variation in labor laws. We find a close fit between the implications of our conceptual framework, the qualitative evidence and the data. Apparel producers in states with pro-worker labor regulations tend to replace labor with capital. This choice of technique effect is smaller for exporting firms, which are more tightly bound to norms for organizing production in global supply chains. Pro-worker labor regulations also reduce output levels more for exporters than for non-exporters, consistent with exporters being bound to international pricing norms. Labor regulations thus have a particularly adverse impact on exporters. Our findings underscore the cost of poorly-designed and implemented labor regulations in a labor-abundant country wishing to spur exports, employment and industrial activity in labor-intensive industries.     

Upgrading in China’s apparel industry: international trade,local clusters and institutional contexts

This article focuses on the concept of upgrading, and seeks to move away from a firm-centred approach of industrial upgrading towards a framework that recognises not only a firm’s integration into global value chains, but also its embeddedness within local networks and the context of wider institutional arrangements. Based on one firm-level database, this article measures upgrading in China’s apparel industry at the firm level, which allows us not only to evaluate the extent of upgrading in the industry as a whole and to compare its extent among individual firms and selected groups of firms, but also to differentiate and measure different types of upgrading. Empirical results confirm that the heterogeneity of firms, global and local linkages and the wider historical, political, institutional and economic context have all played a critical role in the process of upgrading, suggesting that a focus on dynamics of firm upgrading alone is insufficient.     

THE EXTENDED GOVERNANCE OF COOPERATIVE FIRMS: INTER‐FIRM COORDINATION AND CONSISTENCY OF VALUES

This work aims at providing a framework for the analysis of governance in networks of cooperative firms. It builds on four bodies of literature: cooperation, transaction costs, monopoly capitalism, production networks. The framework associates the specific principles that define the identity of cooperative organizations (self‐help, member ownership, democratic control, financial participation, limited capital remuneration) alongside more general governance levels (embodied values, property rights, control, resource allocation). We then apply the same dimensions to production networks and propose a stylized networking model for cooperatives. We introduce market power, and identify two polarized types of networks: (1) heterarchical forms of coordination based on cooperation and mutual help, (2) hierarchical coordination based on exclusive direction. We compare both types with our normative framework providing examples and brief case studies for each network type. Recommendations to scholars and practitioners point at the opportunity to discriminate inter‐firm relations and production development strategy in terms of the values of cooperation, at all governance levels.     

Foreign versus domestic outsourcing: Firm-level evidence on the role of technology

The decision about where to outsource varies across firms and industries. General machinery heavily depends on domestic subcontractors, while outsourcing overseas is prevalent in apparel. Based on firm-level data explicitly distinguishing foreign outsourcing from domestic outsourcing in all manufacturing industries, this paper finds that firms tend to prefer domestic outsourcing to foreign outsourcing when they are R&D-intensive. This finding is consistent with incomplete contracting models, since technologically complex products are likely to require high-quality contracting environment and assembler–supplier proximity. This paper also finds that firms connected with computer networks are actively outsourcing.     

民营化改制对中国产业效率的效果分析--2001年全国普查工业数据的分析

本项研究利用了第二次全国基本单位普查数据 ( 2 0 0 1年 ) ,在全部工业产业的基础上 ,考察了最新的民营化发展的动态 ,考察 2 0多年来形成的改制面和所产生的相应绩效效果。按照现行的国家规定的企业产权注册的详细分类指标 ,我们得以将改制企业从一般公有企业或私有企业中加以分离 ,从而能够通过相应的实证模型 ,来检验不同所有权因素 ,尤其是改制形成的不同股权类型对于产业效率的影响及其程度。主要的发现如下 :( 1 )国有企业 (包括传统国有、国有独资企业 )对于效率具有明显的负作用 ,私营企业、股份企业和三资企业则都表现为积极的对于效率的正相关推动作用 ,其中 ,私营企业推动产业效率的作用最强 ,三资和股份合作企业其次 ,再次则是股份企业和集体企业。( 2 )对于改制企业的不同资本股权来说 ,个人资本普遍具有最显著的对于效率的正相关的积极效果 ,法人资本表现为显著性不稳定的正相关作用 ,集体资本表现出与效率不相关的结果 ,而国家资本则表现出十分显著的负相关的效果。 ( 3 )对于股份有限、有限责任和股份合作制企业这三种股份企业之间差异的分析表明 ,股份有限公司的规模效益作用明显小于股份合作制企业 ,这是较多的国有产权的消极作用抵销了规模效益的积极作用的结果。相对于股份有限公?     

Work supply and constitutional order

James Buchanan has suggested resolving the issue of labor supply and increasing returns by introducing the concept of a work ethic. This paper offers some additional thoughts to the solution that Buchanan has developed by taking a historical perspective. It was the choice between labor supply to the market and self-employment rather than a choice between work and leisure that the early worker in the transitional period to industrialized labor was confronted with. Starting with this point of view, I argue that the critical motivation for increasing labor supply to the market was the prospect of reaping more benefits under the newly organized firms compared to the benefits that the system of simple labor-ownership rule generated. The paper concludes that entrepreneurship, which promotes the division of labor both within firms as well as among firms, performs a decisive role in increasing labor supply. This in turn made possible the transformation of the constitutional order from the pre-industrialized society to the more advanced civil society of today.     

中国的城乡移民-我们知道什么,我们还应该知道什么?

该文综述了中国农村到城镇迁移问题的经济学研究.综述主要的关注点有四个:(1)城乡分割和移民的演化;(2)对于农村到城镇迁移的解释;(3)迁移与劳动力市场演变的互动关系,特别是劳动力市场的分割、劳动力市场的柔性和工资差距;(4)今后进一步研究的方向.     

论社会分工、企业分工和企业网络分工——对分工的再认识

社会分工是人类在生产过程中形成的一种生产关系 ,它的产生和发展是由社会生产力的发展所决定的。服务业的产生可以称为第四次社会分工。社会分工形成的机制是市场 ,在当前条件下 ,政府也参与社会分工的调节。企业内部分工是社会分工的产物 ,产生于工场手工业阶段。在资本主义条件下 ,企业内部分工是资本所有者的一种生产安排。社会分工与企业内部分工存在替代关系 ,二者的替代取决于这两种分工的生产效率。企业网络分工是介于社会分工和企业分工之间的一种分工 ,适合于具有密切联系和相互依赖的企业。随着经济发展和科学技术的进步 ,社会分工、企业分工和企业网络分工将不断发展和深化     

《劳动合同法》实施对我国企业人力资源管理的影响——基于人力资源经理的观点

《劳动合同法》对企业人力资源管理产生了重要影响。本文通过对全国近600家企业人力资源经理的调查,考察了《劳动合同法》实施前后企业在劳动合同签订率和合同期限、招聘、用人成本、解雇和经济补偿、用工灵活性等方面的变化情况。研究结果表明,《劳动合同法》明显提高了劳动合同签订率,延长了劳动合同期限,增加了无固定期限合同数量;促使招聘和解雇决策更谨慎;在一定程度上提高了用人成本,限制了用工灵活性。这些影响因企业规模、所有制不同而存在差异。     

多种要素扭曲是否推动了中国企业出口

本文使用1999-2007年工业企业数据样本分析了包括资本、劳动及中间品在内的要素市场相对扭曲程度,并考察其是否能解释中国企业出口的独特成本优势。结论认为：中国制造业企业存在严重要素价格扭曲,不同要素的价格扭曲程度差异化较大。劳动力价格扭曲现象普遍存在,经济发展以牺牲劳动力价格市场化为代价。国有企业比重较大的行业资本价格相对较低,而私营企业比重较大的行业则资金成本较高。能源、原材料相关行业以及外资企业比重较大的行业中间品价格偏低;经过实证检验,要素市场扭曲的确对企业出口倾向起到推动作用,企业将获得的成本优势转化为出口优势,这表明低廉的要素价格是中国产品在国际市场中具有竞争力的重要原因。     

产业的柔性集聚及其区域竞争力

由于新技术革命的推动,世界范围内许多产业的发展已经或正在从福特制向后福特制转变,柔性专业化中小企业随之不断涌现。在此过程中,同一产业或相关产业部门中的大量专业化企业通过彼此间稠密的生产合作或市场交易网络,在地域空间上形成专业化的产业集聚体。这些柔性集聚体发展成为颇具竞争力的区域系统,奠定了现代区域经济发展中最重要的空间格局。     

Minutes of Spring Council Meeting, 1966, of the Catholic Economic Association

Alongside neo-classical supply-side analysis, there was the emergence in the 1980s of a new strand of anlysis seeking to develop a social-institutional perspective on the supply-side of modern industrial economies. This paper contrasts the views of labor market ‘flexibility’ provided by neo-classical analysts and supporters of deregulation with those of the Flexible Specialization and Diversified Quality Production theorists and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Flexible Specialization in comparison to its main ‘institutionalist’ rival. It concludes that the anlysis of ‘supply-side institutionalism’ and the evidence provided by important empirically based studies, suggests that public policy directed towards: optimizing job training, promoting employee participation and inter-firm co-operation, and restricting the ability of firms to indulge in short-termism will be most productive in promoting the cause of socially progressive industrial production and ‘goodwork’.     

The apparel industry in the post‐Multifiber Arrangement environment: A review

The apparel industry contributes significantly to the economic development of many developing countries. Between 1974 and 2004, the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) heavily regulated this industry. Since the total abolition of the MFA in 2005, competition in apparel trade has increased many folds and some developing countries, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, have been successful while some others, such as Mexico and the Philippines, are struggling to meet this challenge. This study presents a historical evolution of the apparel industry before and after the introduction of MFA and analyzes the factors that enhance apparel export performance during the post‐MFA period. The analysis reveals that cheap labor, firm size, product quality, foreign ownership, availability of local input materials, new product development, preferential market access and working conditions are the major factors that help gaining competitiveness in apparel exports during the post‐MFA period. These observations provide new insights to the policy makers and business managers to formulate and implement appropriate policies in order to become competitive in apparel exports.     

Informal Employment and the Structure of Wages in India: A Review of Trends

The “alternative”, “atypical” or “informal” workforce has grown in developed and developing countries alike. One of the more recent evolutions of informal employment has been of informal employment within formal enterprises. In the interest of flexibility and cost‐reduction, many formal firms increasingly resort to hiring workers on a temporary or informal basis. Alongside, and perhaps, as a result of the persistence and pervasiveness of informal employment, issues relating to inequality have come to the fore. This paper is motivated by these two intertwining aspects of Indian labor market—informality and wage inequality. Using nationally representative sample data, the paper examines trends in wage inequality among various forms of informal workers, overlaying these findings with broader trends in inequality. Using a regression based inequality decomposition, the paper compares the sources of wage inequality across different employment groups and the reasons for differences in wage inequality.     

国有企业对资本和劳动价格扭曲的非对称影响

要素市场化的滞后是我国改革进程中的一个突出问题,要素价格的负向扭曲则是其重要表现.文章从国有企业的视角研究了要素价格扭曲的原因.一方面,金融抑制和所有制歧视使得国有企业以低于市场利率的价格获得了大量资本,加剧了资本价格的负向扭曲;另一方面,由于国有企业提供的社会保障、收入调节功能以及工会的作用会导致国有企业的劳动力价格高于非国有企业,反而有可能改善劳动力价格的负向扭曲.本文测算了171个三位数行业的资本价格扭曲和劳动力价格扭曲指数,通过实证研究发现,国有企业比重越高的行业资本价格扭曲越严重,但是劳动力价格扭曲越小.本研究具有重要的政策含义:虽然国有企业在提高劳动者收入上的作用值得肯定,但降低竞争性行业的国有企业比重、加快金融市场化改革、促进劳动力自由流动、减少政府对国有企业的补贴和保护,将有利于促进资源优化配置,提高社会的总福利水平.