Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
China Economic Review
Publication Date
2006
Volume
17
Issue
3
First Page
281
Last Page
299
Publisher
Elsevier
Keywords
Labor restructuring, Political control, State owned enterprises
Abstract
This study examines the determinants behind the restructuring of China's SOEs in the late 1990s. We have reached two major findings. First, we find that the degree of labor retrenchment is negatively related to enterprise performance, suggesting that poor performance is a major force driving labor restructuring. Second, we offer evidence that decisions on labor retrenchment in traditional SOEs are related to the local government's fiscal position and to local reemployment conditions for laid-off workers. In contrast, labor decisions in corporatized SOEs are not related to these two variables. Our results suggest that corporatized SOEs with partial private ownership may enjoy higher autonomy in labor decisions.
DOI
10.1016/j.chieco.2006.04.004
Print ISSN
1043951X
E-ISSN
18737781
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Inc
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Additional Information
Paper presented at the Summer Conference of the Chinese-Economists-Society on Technoloyg, Human Capital and Economic Development, Jul 30-31, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia.
Full-text Version
Accepted Author Manuscript
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Hu, Y., Opper, S., & Wong, S. M. L. (2006). Political economy of labor retrenchment: Evidence based on China's state-owned enterprises. China Economic Review, 17(3), 281-299. doi: 10.1016/j.chieco.2006.04.004