发展中国家劳工标准的演进路径——对“社会倾销”指责的一种经济学解析

中国等发展中国家经常因低劳工标准而被指责为“社会倾销” ,而发展中国家则反对将劳工标准问题与贸易挂钩。本文提供了一种解释发展中国家劳工标准演进的框架。本文认为发展中国家的劳工标准必然经历一个逐步提升的过程 ,在此过程中市场机制对于劳工标准的改变有重要作用。发展中国家的劳动力由于劳动边际生产率低而向国外流动 ,同时外国资本也进入发展中国家 ,在此过程中劳工标准得到提高 ,而并不需要国际组织的外力干预。这个分析具有重要的政策含义。

The Evolution Path of Labor Standards in Developing Countries——An Economic Argument against the Accusation of “Social Dumping"

Developing countries such as China are often accused of “social dumping" because of their low labor standards, while they refuse to relate labor standards to trade. This paper offers a framework to explain the evolution of labor standards in developing countries. We think labor standards in developing countries have to experience a gradual upgrading progress, in which market mechanism plays a very important role. Workers in developing countries will emigrate owing to the low marginal productivity of labor, while foreign capital will flow into developing countries, and thus labor standards evolve into higher level without any intervention from international agency. This analysis has very meaningful policy implications.