China＇s Urban Employment and Urbanization Rate： A Re-estimation

The present paper argues that China＇s existing population and employment statistics are misleading, and have failed to include many of the migrant and labor force flows between urban and rural areas. The paper reconciles the differences between official census data and other survey statistics and attempts to recalculate China＇s urban population and employment figures. Our analyses indicate that official statistics of 2012 underestimate China ＇s urban employment by approximately 47 million while overestimating rural employment by 31 million. The adjusted urbanization rate exceeded 55 percent in 2012, almost 3 percentage points higher than the official statistics. Nevertheless, there remains much potential for rural-to-urban migration. More specifically, if the current bottlenecks in household registration, social security and public welfare systems can be removed or relaxed, China＇s urbanization rate could rise by another l O percentage points or even more over the next decade.     

People＇s Mobility and Guanxi Networks： A Case Study

The increase in the movement of people from rural to urban areas since the mid-1980s represents the largest labor migration ever experienced in China. Because migration is a process of selection, it is imperative that the major dynamics determining the selection are studied. What are the critical characteristics of migrants that help them to realize their mobility from rural areas to urban areas？ While educational attainment, gender, age, marital status and personal skills are important variables in the selection process, the present paper examines how social networks （guanxi connections） play a significant role in the process of migration selection in China. A case study from one of the northern villages in rural China is used to explore how social networks have shaped and given meaning to migration. The present paper elaborates on how people＇s social mobility has coincided with and been reinforced by people＇s physical mobility.     

Retesting the Separability of China＇s Rural Households

This article retests the separability of China’s rural households in light of growing doubt about the sustainability of high economic growth in China.If a household’s production decisions are "separable "from the household’s consumption decisions,generally this suggests there is no surplus labor.Many scholars aver that China’s surplus rural labor has spurred rapid economic growth,but concerns have arisen as to whether China still has surplus labor available.We investigate this issue using rural household panel data from 1993 to 2009.The regression results confirm that households in rural China have progressed from being non-separable to separable.The estimation results for both the entire country and regions reject the separability hypothesis before 2004 but fail to reject the hypothesis after 2004(with the exception of the central region).These results suggest that China ’s surplus labor supply is dwindling,especially in the eastern and the western regions.The sustainability of China’s high economic growth is questionable in the absence of a large reservoir of surplus rural labor.     

Employment and Working Hour Effects of Minimum Wage Increase： Evidence from China

Using a difference-in-differences model, the present paper provides empirical evidence of minimum wage effects on employment and working hours in China. The results show that male employment is not affected by a minimum wage increase, although men ＂s working hours do increase. In contrast, female employment is more likely to be negatively affected by a minimum wage increase, while their working hours remain unchanged. This may lead to women being in a more disadvantaged position in the workforee, and adopting a monthly minimum wage may induce firms to extend men＇s working hours. Therefore, to better protect disadvantaged workers, we suggest that minimum wage regulation should focus on the target group of less-educated women, and that a unified minimum hourly wage needs to be set for both full-time and part-time workers. Meanwhile, the importance of human capital accumulation shouM be addressed in alleviating the negative effects of minimum wage increases.     

Prediction of Labor Force＇s Supply and Demand in Urban Areas of China

In the recent years, with the promotion of reform and the exposing of some profound contradictions, the problem of unemployment is outstanding day by day and becomes an important problem in present China＇s economics. Based on the data offered by China Statistical Yearbook： 2003, the short-term supply and demand of labor force in urban areas of China is predicted in this paper.     

China＇s Export-led Growth Strategy： An International Comparison

A pressing challenge for China is determining where to accommodate millions of migrant workers displaced by the closing of many export-oriented factories. The current global financial crisis＂ has exposed the fragility of the export-led growth strategy China has adopted over the past 30years. Is there a better alternative for providing non-agricultural jobs than the sweatshops of cheap export production？ In the present paper, international experience is reviewed to shed light on China＇s situation. Using pooled regression models, we analyze data from the World Bank for 209 economies. We investigate the experience of other economies to answer the following questions： What is the common process of expanding the nonagricultural economy？ How is that process affected by the level of the real exchange rate？ Is export production a common way of absorbing surplus rural labor？ Finally, what are the ways that domestic demand and service employment can be expanded？     

Declining Labor Share： Is China＇s Case Different？

This paper explores why labor share in China has declined since the middle of the 1990s. Existing literature usually ascribes the labor share decline in developed countries to biased technological progress. However, our investigation shows that China ＂s case is different. Using a simultaneous equation model estimated with three-stage least squares, we find that FD1, levels of economic development and privatization have negative effects on the labor share. The negative influence of FDl on labor share results from regional competition for FD1, which weakens labor forces＂ bargaining power. A U-shaped relationship exists between labor share and the level of economic development, and China is now on the declining part of the curve. The negative effects of privatization on the labor share stem from the elimination of the so-called ＂wage costs eroding profit ＂ situation and the positive supply shock on the labor market.     

Development in China＇s Foreign Trade： 2003-2012

China＇s foreign trade has entered a new stage, marked by some profound changes since 2003. After 5 years ＇consecutive high growth, China＇s foreign trade experienced a significant slowdown in growth following the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. The purpose of this article is to present a review of the development in China＇s foreign trade over the past l O years, and to explore important changes that have taken place during this period of time. A majorfinding of the presentpaper is that the traditional forces driving the high export growth in China, that is, low-cost labor, low-cost resources and low-cost money, have been disappearing. The policy implication is that over the next l O-15 years, the most important conditions for sustaining high export growth will be promoting the development and export of private enterprises in traditional heaw industries and high-technology industries, and relying on technological progress and high produc6vity to propel export expansion.     

Business Cycle Asymmetry in China： Evidence from Friedman＇s Plucking Model

Friedman＇s plucking model of business fluctuations suggests that output cannot exceed an upper limit, but it is occasionally ＂plucked＂ downward below trends as a result of economic recessions. This paper investigates China＇s business fluetuations using quarterly real GDP data for the period 1978 2009. Our results show some evidence supporting Friedman＇s plucking model. We find that a ceiling effect of real output exists, and that negative asymmetric shocks significantly affect the transitory component, which captures the plucking downward behavior during the recession. The results also suggest that the basic asymmetric unobserved component model is not appropriate for directly modeling China＇s real output because the business＂ cycle is inaccurately measured, but it works quite well when considering a structural break in the second quarter of 1992. The results reveal that although China＇s economy strengthened in the second quarter of 2009, it is essential for China＇s government to take further positive and effective measures to maintain sustainable development of the economy.     

Do Nutrition and Health Affect Migrant Workers＇ Incomes？ Some Evidence from Beijing,China

Migrant workers have become a major element of the labor force in Chinese cities, making important contributions to the economy while forming a socially disadvantaged group. Existing research on the relationship between the level of nutrition and health and income in China mainly focuses on farmers living in rural areas. Based on a Mincer equation and using a survey in Beijing, this paper examines the relationship between migrant workers＂ nutrition and health levels and their monthly incomes. We find that the nutrition intake and the body mass index have positive effects on income while duration of illness and daily working hours have negative effects. These conclusions imply that the Chinese Government should put more emphasis on improving migrant workers＇ well-being, including offering educational programs on nutrition and health, and enhancing medical insurance and the old-age insurance system.     

The Reform of China＇s Rural Land System

This paper discusses the reform of China‘s rural land system in the past more than 20 years. It reviews the course of China‘s rural land system reform since 1978 and the enormous contribution that the household contract responsibility system made to China‘s agricultural and rural development. Then it summarizes the current situation and existing problems in China‘s rural land system. Finally, it offers some policy suggestions on how to perfect the rural land system.     

Does Education Still Pay Off in Rural China： Revisit the Impact of Education on Off-farm Employment and Wages

The present study considers how education affects off-farm job participation and wages. We use a nationally representative dataset from a survey conducted in 5 provinces, 101 villages and 808 households by the authors in early 2005. The empirical results show that educational attainment, skill training and years of experience of rural residents have positive, statistically significant effects on off-farm employment. The average return to a year of education is 7percent, which is higher than those observed in previous studies. We also find the return to an additional year of schooling to be higher for post-junior high schooling than for junior high and below schooling： 11.8 versus 3.2 percent. We conclude that not only does education still pays off in rural China, but also the rate of return to education is increasing over time.     

A research on wage status and wage expectations of migrant workers in Hulan District

Since 2004, there has been the succession of migrant workers labor shortage all over the country. Among the factors causing farmers to hunt jobs in cities, wage plays a decisive role. So in this paper, it made an investigation and research on wages status and salary expectations of migrant workers in Hulan District. There are three main problems of migrant workers wages in Hulan District： The migrant workers＇ average wage is less than the community average wage; the wages were cut down in fact because of long working hours, as well as the low rate of return. In this district, the wage expectation of migrant workers on average is between 1341.8 and 1496.9 Yuan, that is 0.91-1.01 times as many as local minimum wage standard （after adding the overtime pay）; and 0.98-1.12 times as many as AVG salary last year. At last, it gives some suggestions： The enterprises should raise the standard of wages referring to the wage expectation of local migrant workers; local government should enhance skill trainings for migrant workers.     

R＆D,Human Capital Investment and Productivity： Firm-level Evidence from China＇s Electronics Industry

Usingfirm-level panel data covering 2005-2007, the present paper examines the effects of R＆D and human capital investment on productivity in China＇s electronics industry. It is found that both R＆D and on-the-job training positively contribute to total factor productivity （TFP）. Firms＇ investment inemployees＇ health insurance andpensions, whichare components of workers＇ compensation, generate a productivity-enhancing effect, supporting the efficiency wage hypothesis. The estimated impact of R＆D on productivity varies among different forms of ownership, and foreign-owncd enterprises experience higher R＆D efficiency than state or private enterprises. After controlling for potential endogenous causality between TFP and R＆D, the above findings remain unchanged We also find that on-the-job training can improve the quality of human capital and is helpful in promoting productivity. Therefore, establishing indigenous technological capability through various technological sources is quite important, and the government should devote further effort to investing in human capital.     

Can China＇s Labor Comparative Advantage Last？

The paper discovers the source of china＇s labor comparative advantage by international comparison and demonstrates whether this advantage can last long from the aspects of both theories and facts. Based on analysis, the paper thinks the labor cost advantage in China mainly results from a low-cost labor level, which doesn＇t have any advantage actually compared to some other developing countries. According to the factor-price equalization theorem and empirical data, it＇s hard for China＇s labor cost advantage to last long .To keep it, China has to improve its labor efficiency and added value ratio.     

Firm Size and Work Compensation in China

Remarkably, recent research on the Chinese labor market has suggested that the situation in China is inconsistent with the stylized fact that large firms pay higher wages and offer more generous benefits. Expanding the empirical basis from 78 to 300 000 industrial firms, I overturn theprevious result andshow that wage determination in the averagefirmfits the international norm. Exploring subsamples of firms I also point to a likely source for the conflictingfindings： firm size is positively correlatedwith the average wage in private firms, but negatively correlated with the average wage in the state-owned sector. These novel results couM guide future studies aiming to understand the sources of the firm size wage premium, and, in particular, studies that target the largest industrial labor market in the world     

Comparative Analysis of Capital Productivity in China＇s High-Tech Industries

While labor productivity is a topic of constant debate and has been studied extensively, far less attention has been devoted to the question of capital productivity. Productive use of physical capital is an important source of economic growth and investment return. This paper presents a comparative study of capital productivity in China‘s high-tech industry. Using a version of the perpetual inventory method (PIM), new estimates have been made of the physical capital stock by sector. Capital productivity in China‘s high-tech industry is higher than in total manufacturing, but the gap between them has been shrinking. Comparison with high-tech industries in the US., highlights that China‘s high-tech industries could play a more important role in the growth of manufacturing and the whole economy.     

Research on the Seemingly Incompatible Phenomenon of China ——The Coexistence of the Shortage of Peasant Workers and the Difficulty in Employment

In order to answer the questions： ＂Why does the shortage of peasant workers occur in China while there is a serious surplus of labor force？ What is the influence it will bring about on the inland labor market especially on the exports of labor force in poor regions and the poverty-reduction policies of China？, this paper carries out lots of investigations both in major manufacturing centers such as Wenzhou, Suzhou, Dongguan and in big labor-exports provinces such as Hunan and Sichuan, on the basis of analysis on the supply and demand of labor force in China, the paper analyzes the regional distribution pattern of the labor market and its changes, and then thoroughly explores the cause of the seemingly incompatible phenomenon--the coexistence of the shortage of peasant workers and the difficulty in employment, finally, some suggestions are put forward on the poverty -reduction of China.     

Deregulation or Governmental Intervention？ A Counterfactual Perspective on China＇s Electricity Market Reform

The long-standing severe power shortage in China has provoked much debate on whether China should further promote market-oriented electricity reform. The present paper addresses this issue by analyzing the impacts of deregulation of the electricity generation sector and retailing activities on other sectors, the macroeconomy and electricity users. A countetfactual scenario analysis is used based on a simplified computable general equilibrium framework. We find that deregulation can significantly improve the efficiency of electricity production, increase employment and enhance household welfare. These nontrivial findings can help to resolve many controversies about governmental intervention during China＇s economic transition. Our findings have two implications relating to policy feasibility and applicability; that is, competition in the electricity retail market shouM be phased in, and the necessary arrangements for unemployment in incumbent firms shouM be considered.     

Transition of China＇s Diplomacy and Foreign Relations

The present paper focuses on the transformation of China＇s foreign affairs. The transformation is closely associated with and mutually reinforced by the developmental changes that have taken place in China. China＇s strong economic focus has had a profound effect on its foreign relations and international strategies. With sustained growth over the past three decades （1978-2008）, China has become an important member of the world community. In particular, its influence has been growing in the Asia-Pacific area. China＇s unique developmental model and path are recognized and scrutinized worldwide. The present paper discusses special aspects of foreign aid and also explores the changes in principles of and approaches taken in the application of foreign aid policies. Under dual external and internal pressure, China has to constantly adjust, renew and improve its approach to diplomatic and international relations.