China's 2008 Labor Contract Law : Implementation and Implications for China's Workers
This paper presents empirical evidence from household and firm survey data collected during 2009-2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law and its effects on China's workers. The government and local labor bureaus have made sub...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/07/18030252/chinas-2008-labor-contract-law-implementation-implications-chinas-workers http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15902 |
| Summary: | This paper presents empirical evidence
from household and firm survey data collected during
2009-2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract
Law and its effects on China's workers. The government
and local labor bureaus have made substantial efforts to
enforce the provisions of the new law, which has likely
contributed to reversing a trend toward increasing
informalization of the urban labor market. Enforcement of
the law, however, varies substantially across cities. The
paper analyzes the determinants of worker satisfaction with
the enforcement of the law, the propensity of workers to
have a labor contract, workers' awareness of the
content of the law, and their likelihood of initiating
disputes. The paper finds that all of these factors are
highly correlated with the level of education, especially
for migrants. Although higher labor costs may have had a
negative impact on manufacturing employment growth, this has
not led to an overall increase in aggregate unemployment or
prevented the rapid growth of real wages. Less progress has
been made in increasing social insurance coverage, although
signing a labor contract is more likely to be associated
with participation in social insurance programs than in the
past, particularly for migrant workers. |
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