Shadow price of working in the shadows: services industry evidence

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we use an exogenous policy variation in the labour market to determine the wage gap between formally and informally employed workers. For our purposes, ‘informal employment’ describes employees who are not officially registered with any social security scheme. We use self-reported employee registration status to identify such workers, but the choice of working unregistered is not exogenous. Nevertheless, through an amnesty that was extended to only some workers in the labour market, we reduce the endogeneity problem, enabling estimation of the wage gap between these two groups. Our two-stage least square estimates reveal that the hourly wage penalty of working in the shadows is as high as 59%, and the monthly salary penalty is around 66%. Moreover, the wage gap is higher (as high as 70%) for those working in the services sector, as unregistered workers in this sector tend to be low skilled and low educated, and the monitoring of this sector is more difficult. Our analysis contributes to the literature by using an instrumental variable to treat the endogeneity of workers’ registration status. In addition, it shows that people working informally in the services industry receive a higher average wage penalty than other informally employed workers.     

关于外出务工人员权益保障问题

外出务工人员在城镇建设、经济发展、社会进步等方面做出了重要贡献,已经成为一支现代化建设的生力军。对于长期以来外出务工人员权益保障上存在着社会保险的缺失、就业受限制等问题,政府和社会都应给予高度重视,通过完善外出务工人员权益保护的法律体系建设和确立外出务工人员的社会保障制度,使外出务工人员充分享受劳动法律赋予的各项权利。     

长三角一体化进程中人口社会政策的主要差异与协调完善的基本思路

人口社会政策对长三角一体化进程也有影响,不同的政策应采取不同的改革思路和对策。户籍改革的关键是在现有改革的基础上,剥离附加的不合理社会管理功能,加快配套制度的改革;养老保险政策改革的基本思路是探索便于城乡对接并可以跨地区流转的社会保险制度;劳动就业政策改革的出路在于彻底打破城乡劳动力在政策上和制度上的界限;生育政策改革的思路是在稳定低生育水平的基础上,缩小城乡计划生育政策的差异,逐步建立城乡一体的生育政策。     

新农村未成年人犯罪的经济学分析

农村未成年人犯罪关系到农村未成年人的成长和新农村的真正实现,关系到社会主义和谐社会的实现。农村未成年人犯罪的原因,是农村经济停滞,社会转型导致两极分化,经济体制改革使农民工在城市的就业形势恶化。预防农村未成年人犯罪,应建立健全社会防控体系,改革农村社会保障,促进社会稳定,加强法制教育,提高农村未成年人受教育的普遍程度,推动户籍制度和迁移制度改革,促进城乡融合。     

我国城市化进程中的企业社会责任探析

企业作为城市化进程中的经济主体,担负着不可推卸的社会责任。然而在我国的城市化进程中．由于企业社会责任在环境保护与就业两个维度上的缺失,是导致各种负面的社会矛盾和社会问题的关键因素。企业作为城市化进程中的主体,既是产生环境污染问题的直接原因．也是城市化进程中解决农民就业问题的主要力量。企业应从自身责任意识的强化、环保法律机制的完善、宣传教育力度的加强等方面提升企业环境保护责任;从平等的就业环境、健全的培训体系、政府的制度支持角度提升企业就业责任。     

农民工受歧视的二元制度分析

农民工为我国经济发展做出了巨大贡献,但农民工受歧视的问题却非常严重,既损害了农民工的合法权益,也严重影响了经济的健康发展和社会的和谐。农民工在城市中所遭受的歧视主要表现在就业歧视、社会保障歧视、教育歧视,根源在于城乡分割的二元制度。为解决农民工受歧视问题,应从改革户籍制度入手,加快制度创新,创建平等的就业机制,完善社会保障制度。     

市场化条件下的妇女就业及其劳动权益保护——对上海非公有制企业女工的调查

根据复旦大学人口研究所2002年的调查资料,介绍上海市非公有制企业女工的工资报酬、她们所享有的一般劳动权益和特殊劳动保护权益.在市场化条件下,现有的法律和法规对妇女劳动权益的保护作用呈现减弱的趋势.呼吁全社会在关心妇女就业的同时,必须以极大的热情关注妇女劳动权益的保护.     

社会保障政策与就业联动的实证分析

在全面梳理现行社会保障政策的基础上,采用实证分析的方法,对社会保障同就业、失业之间的相关关系进行定量分析,指出现行社会保障政策与促进就业之间的不协调,揭示我国近年来就业增长降低与社会保障费率升高之间的数量联系,进而提出完善社会保障政策设计的建议.     

Issues of employment portfolios in Japanese retail businesses

Abstract

The employment portfolio of Japanese retail businesses is composed of regular employees and part-time workers. Even though part-time workers are assigned to significant jobs, their wages tend to be lower than those of regular employees. However, the job satisfaction and motivation of part-time workers are not low. This article aims to consider why part-time workers have a positive attitude toward their jobs. Data were collected from part-time workers of retail businesses (n?=?1133). The specific focus is on two groups: part-time workers compared to regular employees and part-time workers compared to other part-time workers. Results showed that the group compared to part-time workers had more positive job attitude than others. From the point of view of social comparison, the job attitude of part-time workers may differ depending on the choice of who they compare themselves against. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

黑龙江省民生发展政策的问题与借鉴

民生发展是现代社会建设的重要内容,是我国政府高度关注与重点解决的热点问题。黑龙江省在加强民生发展取得成效的同时,还存在一些问题,主要表现在财税政策落实不到位,社会保障政策不健全,就业政策支持力度不够。国外在住房保障、医疗卫生、低碳环保、教育、就业等方面的民生政策,对黑龙江省促进经济科学发展、加大教育投入力度、加强住房保障建设和完善社会保障制度等民生发展,都有着积极的借鉴意义。     

浅谈我国农村社会保障制度的建设思路

我国农村社会保障制度的建设,必须发挥政府功能以保证其规范化;建立多元化的农村社会保障体系,因地制宜,分类管理;分步推进,构建多层次的农村社会保障机制;多渠道多形式筹集保障基金,提升土地保障和家庭保障的补充功能,并发挥商业保险的作用。     

Explaining National Differences in the Size and Industry Distribution Employment

What forces determine national differences in the size and industry distribution of employment? We stress the role of the economic policy environment as determined by business taxes, employment security laws, credit market regulations, the national pension system, wage-setting institutions and the size of the public sector. We characterize these aspects of the economic environment in Sweden prior to 1990–91 and compare them to the situation in other European countries and the United States. Our characterization and international comparisons show that Swedish policies and institutions strongly disfavored less capital-intensive firms, smaller firms, entry by new firms, and individual and family ownership of business.

We also compile evidence that these forces affect outcomes. Taking the U.S. industry distribution as a benchmark that reflects a comparatively neutral set of policies and institutions, Sweden's employment distribution in the mid-1980s is sharply tilted away from low-wage industries and industries with greater employment shares for smaller firms and establishments. Compared to other European countries, Sweden has an unusually high share of employment in large firms. Furthermore, the Swedish rate of self- employment in the 1970s and 1980s is the lowest among all OECD countries.

The institutional and policy factors emphasized by our study differ greatly across countries. This fact suggests that our approach can be fruitfully applied to other studies of national differences in industry and size structures and their evolution over time. As an example, the tax reform wave of the 1980s – which largely evened out cross-country differences in corporate taxation among OECD countries – offers some basis for projecting a movement towards greater similarity among wealthy countries in the size and industry distribution of employment.

     

试论非正规就业对完善城市社会保障制度的影响

经济转型期间 ,我国城市劳动力市场处于分割状态 ,城市存在正规和非正规两大部门 ,非正规就业因此产生。由于体制性原因和经济性原因 ,非正规就业在我国将长期存在。但是 ,非正规就业者的社会保障权益却普遍缺失。从多方面分析了在城市劳动力市场长期分割的背景下 ,非正规就业对完善城市社会保障制度的影响     

Wages,Health Insurance Benefits,and Worker Sorting Under Asymmetric Information

Abstract

Employer-sponsored health insurance is the single largest source of health insurance in the USA. In this paper, we explore a model that treats a firm as a de facto insurance company. More specifically, we model a firm as both a producer of goods for an output market and a health insurance company for their employees. The model accounts for the joint provision of wages and health insurance, including the possibility of asymmetric information in employee health status. With this structure, a firm can choose to pay their workers in some combination of cash wages and health insurance. We characterize optimal employment contracts and show that the Rothschild–Stiglitz model results under asymmetric information extend to employer provided insurance. We also find that employment-based insurance offers pooling options that are typically not available when insurance is sold as a standalone product, suggesting a stability to employer-based insurance that is not dependent on the tax system.     

A transformative service research agenda: a study of workers’ well-being

Interest in workers’ well-being is mounting – a key driver being the growing recognition that well-being is linked to performance. Utilizing a transformative service research (TSR) agenda, this study examines how people management practices impact the well-being of hospitality and retail workers. Comparing the experiences of permanent and precarious workers, we find it is not employment practices per se that promulgate feelings of insecurity and inferiority; rather, it is the attributions ascribed to them. This has practical implications. Most notably, some of the deleterious effects of precarious employment might be mitigated where careful attention is paid to the motives underlying an organization’s people management practices. Theoretically, TSR offers a more expansive lens for understanding the social exchange occurring in both employment relationships and service encounters, thus contributing significantly to knowledge on mutual gains theories. These findings and their implications are discussed in detail in the paper.     

人口老龄化与辽宁老工业基地的可持续发展

辽宁人口老龄化始于 2 0世纪 6 0年代中期 ,自 1997年步入年老型社会 ,目前辽宁人口老龄化程度在不断深化。人口老龄化已对辽宁社会保障、劳动就业以及辽宁老工业基地的振兴和可持续发展产生了重大影响 ,这种影响还将持续并可能加重。为应对人口老龄化 ,促进辽宁老工业基地的可持续发展 ,就必须尽快建设并完善社会保障体系 ,建立积极、动态的劳动就业机制和社会服务体系。     

完善我国农民工社会福利体系建设的对策

从经济学和社会学角度,对目前我国城市农民工缺乏基本社会保险、子女成长教育保障和居住保障等社会福利现状及其原因进行深入分析,指出已引发诸多社会、经济和治安问题,进而提出了构建和完善农民工社会福利体系建议。     

Formal voice mechanisms and portfolio career workers’ prosocial voice in Japan and Korea: the mediating role of managers’ issue-related leadership activities

ABSTRACT

This study analyses the relationship between formal voice mechanisms and prosocial voice among portfolio career workers (PCWs) in Japan and Korea. We particularly focus on the leadership activities of managers as human resource management agents and issue sellers. Under similar conditions, data on 400 and 409 PCWs in Japan and Korea, respectively, are gathered through web-based longitudinal surveys conducted in 2017 and 2018. The findings are threefold. First, when PCWs perceive that formal voice mechanisms are activated, they also rate the levels of their managers’ issue-related leadership activities more highly. Second, when PCWs evaluate the issue-related leadership activities of managers as being at a high level, they perceive that employment relations are based on a social exchange relationship. Third, when PCWs perceive employment relations based on a social exchange relationship, they provide their prosocial voice more actively. These results are discussed relative to the internal labour market models of Japan and Korea.     

我国发达地区农民工短缺问题归因论

本文认为,目前我国发达地区出现农民工短缺问题,主要有三大因素:一是多年来农民工的工作环境没有得到改善;二是企业对劳动力的需求扩张;三是劳动力素质结构不能满足产业结构升级的需要。要解决这一问题,当务之急是要加大农民工的培训与保障力度,提升其专业技能与素质。文章提出,企业要与农民工签订长期合同,减少农民工季节性打工和劳动力回流费用,加强职业技能培训;政府要大力发展面向农民工的非学历中等职业教育,改善农民工的工作环境和条件,将农民工纳入社会保障体系,解决好农民工的子女教育问题。     

关于农民工社会保障问题的思考

从农民工社会保障现状出发,通过对农民工社会保障公平性和制度设计的思考,强调农民工社会保障构建的必要性和探索农民工社会保障制度在实施中的可行性。在目前还不具备建立一元社会保障制度——且一元社会保障在差别社会未必是公平社会保障模式的情况下,应构建以长期目标与城镇社会保障体系接轨的,以"底线保障"为基础的,柔性过渡的分类分层农民工社会保障制度模式。