| This paper discusses one of formal institutions of lay-offs –buying out length of service, which is implemented in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Northeast China during the process of SOE reform from the angle of Sociology. The policy implemented in SOE reform and reemployment has many different formal institutions due to various enterprises and area features. Currently, it is relatively common to implement buying out length of service in the Northeastern SOEs. This paper starts with this issue to analyze through the research of buying-out employments survey and individual interview in two large SOEs -Daqing 5th Oil Extraction Plant and Changchun Fuel Machine Plant -with the approach of institutional theory. It looks that most workers of the Northeastern SOEs have accepted the form of buying out length of service, however, due to the restraints of informal institutions on psychological level, many lay-off workers cannot correctly understand reemployment. They still treat lay-off issue with the customs and psychology under planned economic regime but without realizing the position changes of themselves, which lands reemployment of lay-off workers into a predicament. From my point of view, this results from the conflict between formal and informal institutions of buying out length of service. That is, because institutions not only have item form, which is outside, formal institution, but also include mental, cognitive problems, which is inside, informal institution. It will realize effective institutional innovation and change, unless formal and informal institutions integrate and harmonize each other. A lot of lay-off employees still have "waiting, depending, demanding"psychology while lack competitive ideas. In addition, people in Northeast China usually have the psychological feature that is they tend to be anxious to save their face. These informal institutions are not suitable to buying out. As a result, the conflict cannot enable employment space to be developed, which brings invasions to realizing reemployment. Aiming at the conflict between formal and informal institutions of buying out length of service in SOEs of Northeast China, this paper gives a rhetorical analysis for 3 aspects. 1,Behavior restraints under path dependence. Buying out length of service is a policy that is implemented during the process of shifting planned economy to market economy in order to fit the demand of market economy. It is formulated by the state to arrange for extra employees rationally in SOEs and terminate labor relations with payment. The implementation of new institutions will be affected by the factors of old ones. It is inevitable that there are vestiges of old institutions during the process of implementing buying out length of service; so constantly perfecting new institutions needs to eliminate the old institutional factors that impede institutional innovation. Buying out demonstrates strong path dependence features; especially it is reflected in informal institutional aspect. Before the SOEs changing their regimes, the workers in Northeast China, who are facing buying out length of service now, had been under planned economic regime for a long time. As a result, it formed a kind of psychology –"waiting, depending, demanding"and a kind of attitude content with current situations; those are both path dependence, which hinders reemployment behaviors. When social change and enterprise reform need to face new challenges, when market economy demands employees to undertake jobs on their own initiative and terminate their dependence to the enterprises, their strong depending psychology seriously hinders their rational behaviors. The dependence rooted in their mind for years makes them unable to face reality, binds them hand and foot, and loses capability of coping with challenges that market economy brings. 2,Psychological loss under institutional Game Approach. Currently our state is on the transforming-track period of shifting planned economy to market economy. In the institutional Game Approach of transforming track, it carries out a double-track system that both planned economic regime and market economic regime exist together. This increases frictions and loss between regimes and makes institution blurred and unclear.The laid-off employees of Northeastern SOEs in this age, when they face this institutional Game Approach, they generate relevant game psychology, which lead to the choosing behavior way that still has planned economic color. They passively wait, inactive escape. They are unable to rationally make good use of buying out length of service, while they are at a loss and even get confused and flinch. In the psychological game, they select the side that they are familiar, that is the passive psychology that they dare not face reality. This psychological loss results in the conflict between formal institution and informal institution, which makes buying out length of service unable to realize the objectives of its own interest and value direction. Therefore implementing result is far from rational design. 3,Psychology of being anxious to save face under cognitive choice. People in Northeast China tend to be anxious to save their face, which may cause themselves to be tired. Saving face, as we do anything, should act according to our abilities; otherwise we will endure tortures and at the same time we cannot avoid disappointment of things running counter to our wishes. At last, it may develop to losing face while we originally want to save face. People in Northeast China lack information and have a poor capability of rational choice; additionally they have the psychology of tending to save face, which limit their ability to make choices rationally even more. This has become the conflict with designed objectives of buying out length of service. To solve the conflict between formal and informal institution, it must perfect shortcomings in the formal institutions of buying out length of service in order to make it accord with psychological changing process of lay-off employees in SOEs. At same time, it should make these employees accept this inexorable change from their own psychological ideas, adjust their attitude and behaviors, realize coordination and integration of formal institution and get out of the difficult position of lay-off, thus to realize reemployment. Firstly, from the angle of Northeast China area and enterprise features and employees'cultural position, it should enhance implementing mechanism construction of buying out length of service institution and make efforts to realize buying out formal institution aiming at building informal institution...
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