The movement of labor in Chinese rural areas: with a focus on developed regions
Yan, S.P.
Developing Economies 28(4): 524-543
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-1533 PMID: 12285850 DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-1049.1990.tb00196.xDocument Number: 378580
Recent Chinese economic reforms target both agrarian and urban sectors. This paper discusses employment structure change in rural areas and the interindustry movement of labor, with particular attention to relevant institutional aspects. The residencies and population system and the employment-welfare-insurance system are reviewed. Socioeconomic structure and labor market mechanisms in rural areas are considered as the basis for the movement of labor; forms of employment and labor market characteristics in rural areas are identified; and factors influencing job-related behavior of the work force in agricultural households, as well as mechanisms regulating interindustry movement of the work force are quantified. These issues are investigated only for the Sunan area and suburban villages near Shanghai. Review suggests that labor force movement within China's rural areas has gained momentum despite institutional limitations. The rural employment structure has changed to impact the entire national economy. Village and township enterprises have helped raise income levels of farming households, industrialize and urbanize rural areas, and strengthen ties between rural and urban areas. To sustain growth in rural and national economies, however, greater differentiation is needed between the functions of administrative and economic sectors, competitive principles should be introduced in rural areas, and institutional restrictions on population and labor force movements should be relaxed.