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.     

Does government health insurance reduce job lock and job push?

I study job lock and job push, twin phenomena believed to be partially due to employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI). Using variation in Medicaid eligibility among household members of male workers to identify changes in those workers' reliance on ECHI, I estimate notable job lock and job push effects. For married male workers, a 15 percentage point increase in the likelihood a household member is eligible for Medicaid increases the rate of voluntary job exits over a four-month period by 14%. For job push, the same increase in a household member's likelihood of Medicaid eligibility reduces the transition rate into jobs with ECHI among all male workers by 8%.     

THE EFFECTS OF WORKERS' REGION OF BIRTH ON LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

In this paper, we investigate empirically whether there are differences in labor market outcomes according to workers' region of birth. We also investigate whether wage differentials by region of birth are due to taste discrimination, statistical discrimination as measurement error, or both of these things. The empirical analyses based on the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) data show the following. First, Honam‐born workers have a higher migration ratio to other regions than Youngnam‐born workers. Second, workers born in other regions have a higher propensity to become contingent workers and are paid significantly lower wages than Seoul/Kyonggi‐born workers. Finally, our empirical tests support the third hypothesis that wage differentials by region of birth are attributable partly to statistical discrimination as measurement error and partly to taste discrimination. We rejected a hypothesis based solely on taste discrimination as well as a hypothesis based solely on statistical discrimination as measurement error.     

The impact of E‐Verify mandates on labor market outcomes

A number of states have adopted laws that require employers to use the federal government's E‐Verify program to check workers' eligibility to work legally in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Survey, this study examines whether such laws affect labor market outcomes among Mexican immigrants who are likely to be unauthorized. We find evidence that E‐Verify mandates reduce average hourly earnings among likely unauthorized male Mexican immigrants while increasing labor force participation among likely unauthorized female Mexican immigrants. Furthermore, the mandates appear to lead to better labor market outcomes among workers likely to compete with unauthorized immigrants. Employment rises among male Mexican immigrants who are naturalized citizens in states that adopt E‐Verify mandates, and earnings rise among U.S.‐born Hispanic men. There is no evidence of significant effects among U.S.‐born non‐Hispanic whites.     

Power at the workplace: The resolution of worker-management conflict in Cuba

This contribution examines the distribution of power at the Cuban workplace by analyzing how overt conflicts between workers and managers concerning discipline and workers' rights are resolved. Variations in dispute resolution mechanisms and processes over the last quarter century are discussed in order to elucidate the degree to which they have either reinforced power inequalities between workers and managers or mitigated them. The paper demonstrates that the procedures employed to resolve worker-management conflict during this period have granted significant powers to workers. Yet no matter how egalitarian their form, workers' ability to take full advantage of the empowerment opportunities provided by these procedures has depended, in large measure, on the overall strength of the Cuban unions.     

THE POLITICS OF REREGULATION: GLOBALIZATION,DEMOCRATIZATION, AND THE TAIWANESE LABOR MOVEMENT

Since the early 1990s, Taiwanese workers have faced two simultaneous trends: democratization and globalization. These two trends have different, if not exactly opposite, implications for the labor movement. Democratization has empowered the working class and made its members more effective in the political process. Globalization, however, has led to an increase in the flexibility of the labor market and made workers more vulnerable to changes in the economic environment. This paper begins with a discussion of the general characteristics of Taiwan's labor movement and the general impact of globalization on labor institutions. Then, by examining the transformation of Taiwan's labor institutions in recent years, and specifically the process of union reorganization and the revisions of the Labor Standards Law, the paper shows how, against the background of globalization, Taiwanese workers have used their newly acquired political power to maneuver between different political forces and set the development course for the labor movement.     

当代跨国公司劳资关系发展与三方机制分析

进入20世纪90年代以来,强流动性资源主导弱流动性资源配置的特征更加明显,跨国公司携资本、技术、企业家才能等流动性较强的生产要素在全球范围内追求利润最大化,而相对不可流动的劳动力资源则面临着巨大的冲击,不同国家传统的劳动力市场及劳资关系也受到了严竣的挑战。文章从全球化进程中劳资关系的发展和三方主体入手,对其行为目标和所面临的冲突进行了分析,针对如何解决劳资冲突提出了一些观点。     

Peasant labour for urban industry: Temporary contract labour,urban-rural balance and class relations in a Chinese county

Urban-rural relations in China have a dual character: while a higher level of urban-rural economic balance than most other countries has been achieved, a sharp structural cleavage between workers and peasants has been maintained, based mainly on strict household registrations. Peasants are prevented from migrating to towns and gaining employment there, except under specially approved contracts arranged to resolve local shortages of industrial labour. Contract labour has complex and important effects on rural and urban industrial development. It also embodies the duality of urban-rural relations in China: at the same time as it redistributes wage funds from urban to rural areas, it reinforces the class cleavage between workers and peasants (including contract workers). It also opens up a complex web of inequalities and cleavages among those peasants with contract work and those without. Contract workers have been placed in a contradictory class position which has been a flashpoint of political conflict. The relationships of contract labour to urban industrial and rural development, urbanization, urban-rural balance and structural cleavage, class structure and political conflict are examined through a study of Shulu County, an ordinary rural area with agrowing industrial centre in which over half of the industrial labour force is comprised of peasant contract workers.     

Poverty among the elderly in late Victorian England1

Despite rapid increases in manual workers' wages, poverty rates among the elderly remained high in late Victorian England, although they varied significantly across Poor Law Unions. This paper begins by examining the ability of workers to provide for their old age. A data set is constructed, consisting of all English Poor Law Unions in 1891–2, and regression equations are estimated in order to explain variations across unions in pauperism rates. This is followed by the testing of several conjectures made by contemporaries, and repeated by historians, regarding the deterrent effect of workhouse relief, the effects of wages and of the industrial character of Poor Law Unions on pauperism rates, and regional differences in workers' reliance on the poor law. The paper then examines the implications of these results for the debate over national old age pensions in the decades before the adoption of the Old Age Pension Act.     

Labor Militancy in South Korea*

Korea has adopted the labor institutions of Japan, which are noted for ensuring industrial peace unparalleled elsewhere, fostering worker‐management cooperation: company unionism, no temporary layoffs, synchronized annual contracts, seniority‐based wages, and the bonus system. Yet the labor relations in Korea have been turbulent for the last 15 years, with its strike intensity exceeding that of any industrialized country during most of that period. Why is labor so militant in South Korea? This research identifies two types of factors responsible for Korean labor militancy. First are sociopolitical factors: abrupt decontrol of labor relations in 1987 for which labor and management were and continue to be ill prepared, and the dominance of the age‐cohort of young, assertive workers in the workforce. The second factor is that Korean industrial policy and structure are shown to encourage union militancy as an unintended consequence.     

Incentive Contract Design and Employee-Initiated Innovation: Evidence from the Field*

This study examines how the design of incentive contracts for tasks defined as workers' official responsibilities (i.e., standard tasks) influences workers' propensity to engage in employee-initiated innovation (EII). EII corresponds to innovation activities that are not formally assigned to workers but are nonetheless encouraged and considered to be important for the company's success. Like other extra-role behaviors, EII is difficult to incentivize directly. Therefore, it is important to understand whether and how explicit incentive contracts designed for the workers' standard tasks may indirectly influence their EII activity. We use field data from a manufacturing company that uses a dedicated information system to track workers' EII idea submissions. We find theory-consistent evidence that, compared to workers receiving fixed pay, employees rewarded for their standard tasks with variable compensation contracts exhibit a lower propensity to engage in EII. This result is concentrated among ideas benefiting other constituents and activities beyond the proponents' standard task (i.e., broad-scope ideas). In contrast, we find no difference attributable to standard task incentive design in the proposal of innovation ideas narrowly focused on the proponent's standard task (i.e., narrow-scope ideas). Our findings suggest that variable pay narrows employees' conceptual focus around the standard task and hinders employee engagement in broad-scope innovation activities compared to fixed compensation contracts. We contribute to the literature on incentives for innovation by showing that standard task compensation contracts have spillover effects on EII behavior. We also contribute to the nascent literature on EII by showing that innovation types, defined based on their relation with the proponent's standard task, matter. Our results are relevant for practitioners in that managers relying on variable pay contracts to incentivize standard task performance should expect lower employee engagement in broad-scope EII.     

Education signaling,effort investments,and the market's expectations: Theory and experiment on China's higher education expansion

China's higher education expansion has led to significant changes in younger generations' educational investments and labor market outcomes, and this trend is expected to continue due to the recent post-graduate education expansion in response to economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper investigates the impact of higher education expansion on labor market participants' choices, beliefs, and learning effects through an extended education signaling model, and uncovers the behavioral patterns in response to this policy change using a laboratory experiment. We find that subjects playing the role of workers generally follow a threshold strategy, and the changes in their effort investments and received wages after the enrollment expansion are consistent with the theoretical prediction. Using a hierarchical clustering method, we estimate different types of empirical strategies adopted by the subjects. In the low-enrollment treatment, the three types of empirical strategies are more distinct, and there is a strong tendency for effort over-investment by low-ability workers and under-investment by high-ability workers. In the high-enrollment treatment, the distinction between the estimated strategy types becomes much smaller. An analysis using elicited beliefs suggests that effort over-investment stems from workers' inconsistent beliefs regarding firms' wage offers — this inconsistency persists even in the last few periods of the game. Our findings provide a belief-based explanation for the discussion on over-education and are of great policy relevance.     

Union effects on performance and employment relations: Evidence from China

This paper empirically studies union effects on the performance of, and employment relations in, China's private enterprises. The study finds a positive and statistically significant union effect on labor productivity, but not on profitability. It further finds that unions lead to better employee benefits and increased contract signing in employment. These findings suggest that, in the era of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, unions in China's private enterprises do promote workers' interests as unions do in other economies. And they do that without abandoning their traditional role of harmonizing employment relations, as required by the Party.     

Wage differentials between urban and rural-urban migrant workers in China

Since the end of the 1980s, the number of migrants working in the urban labor market has increased dramatically. However, migrant workers are treated differently from urban workers. In this paper we examine the labor market discrimination against rural migrants from the point of view of wage differentials using CHIP-2007 data. We apply Jann pooled method to deal with index number problem and use Heckman two step model to correct selection problem when decomposing the wage gap. The decomposition results show that a significant difference in wage gains persists between the two groups as late as 2007. In 2007 migrants only earned 49% of urban workers' income and 17% of the wage gap cannot be explained by observed factors. In detail, differences in educational attainment, work experience and distribution across industry, occupation, and ownership of enterprises account for most of the explained wage gap.     

论我国劳动立法的思想与实践

劳动法以对劳动者权益的倾斜保护为主要目的,是国家干预劳动关系的主要手段。作为劳动者当家做主的社会主义国家,我国劳动立法在历经革命年代的洗礼和新中国成立后的初创、恢复与发展后,建立了劳动基准制度、劳动合同制度,并逐步探索出了一条具有中国特色的面向未来的能够有效衡平各方利益的发展道路,实现了对劳动者诚实劳动的保护,并为建立和谐劳动关系奠定了坚实基础。     

珠三角"民工荒"的原因与启示

自2004年起,珠三角地区许多企业遇到了招工难问题,由过去的"民工潮"转变为"民工荒". "民工荒"现象的产生最直接的原因就是农民工工资低,生活就业环境差,但深层的原因是我国农民工文化和技能水平低,人力资本不足与珠三角地区产业结构升级矛盾所引起的.因此,化解珠三角"民工荒"的出路在于:一是加强对农民工的人力资本投资,提高民工就业能力;二是加快产业结构升级和转移,实现区域经济协调发展.     

INFORMALIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL LABOR IN INDIA: EFFECTS OF LABOR MARKET RIGIDITIES AND IMPORT COMPETITION

Since the 1980s, industrial labor in India has been increasingly informalized, manifested in a rising share of unorganized sector employment and the growing use of temporary and contract workers, and subcontracting in organized manufacturing. Using unit‐level data from the National Sample Survey employment–unemployment survey for 2004–5, the paper investigates econometrically whether labor market rigidities and import competition have been responsible for the informalization of industrial labor in India. The results of econometric models show that labor market reforms tend to increase the creation of regular jobs, while import competition tends to raise casual employment among workers with education levels above primary.     

Occupational injuries as a criterion of professional risk

This paper presents an analysis of occupational injury, which is one of the most important characteristics of professional risk to workers' health. The dynamics and completeness of recording industrial accidents in Russia during different periods of socioeconomic development have been considered, as well as the impact of labor legislation on the quality of injury recording at enterprises of the country. It has been shown that the current official data on the injury rates in the Russian Federation do not correspond to reality, which indicates a need to improve labor legislation in this area.     

Adverse Selection and Pay Compression

A fundamental result of the principal-agent literature is that pay will be linked to performance when it is difficult for the principal to monitor the agent's actions. However, performance pay can lead to adverse incentives. In these models, high-powered incentives encourage workers to neglect some aspects of their job or to sabotage their coworkers' efforts. This paper offers another explanation for the weak link between pay and performance: worker heterogeneity. When workers are heterogeneous and labor contracts are contests, the Nash equilibrium often pools workers. I show that this implies that the link between pay and performance is weaker than would be the case if firms could observe workers' types before contracting and offer each type their respective optimal contests.     

农民工人力资本的测度及比较分析

根据2017年全国流动人口动态监测调查数据，运用多元综合法，测度并分析了我国农民工的人力资本。研究发现，总体来说我国农民工人力资本综合水平显著提升，迁移资本、经验资本和健康资本均有明显改善，教育资本提升不足；各地区间农民工人力资本水平差距较大，发展不均衡；相较于老一代，新生代农民工的迁移资本、教育资本、健康资本均有一定优势。在此基础上，提出进一步全面提升农民工人力资本的对策建议。