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China's Rural Labor Force Transfer Studies

Posted on:2012-09-29Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:J MaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:1119330371965636Subject:Industrial Economics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
In the process of industrialization, the comparative income disparity between traditional extractive industry and the non-agriculture induces rural labor migration to non-agricultural sectors and the township. Rural labor migration is the result of rational choice for peasants to pursue the maximal benefits for themselves, and the pervasive current of industrialization and urbanization for all the countries in the world as well. The boost of the surplus rural labor migration is the inevitable demand to accelerate the industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization.As is different from the developing economies in Latin America where the farmers can make their own decisions for their targeted cities or towns to transfer and settle down according to their own will and ability, the intersected administrative system and a series of systems of the urban and rural labor engender a stern barrier for the rural labor migration. Only through innovation and transformation of the related systems can safeguard the sustainability of rural labor migration.With institutional change since China'adoption of the reform and opening policy more than thirty years ago, surplus rural labor migration has made a great achievement: in 2009, the rural labor of our country who had left their hometowns to work in cities or towns counted up to 145,000,000, accounting for 46.7% of urban employees; in addition to 85,000,000 local township employees, the total migrant workers reached to 230,000,000, accounting for 49.1% of the national rural labor and over two thirds of the total national workers. Migrant workers have become the main body of industrial work force of our country, which have made a great contribution to economic and social development. However, we have to make it clear that we still shoulder heavy responsibilities for rural labor migration and there is a long way to go, and rural labor migration will face complicated situations. On the one hand, rural labor migration of our country has come to the new stage of "surplus in quantity but lack in structure" in which young labor supply is limited and there are still nearly 100,000,000 surplus rural labor waiting to be transferred. On the other hand, there are still extruding problems such as new system being short of provision, migrant workers lacking protection of their deserving rights and welfare and being given unfair treatment, settling down in the city being greatly restricted, which have become persistent obstacles to prevent rural labor from sustainable transferring and further, endanger social stability.Labor migration theory in foreign countries takes rural labor migration as a research object in the developed countries with no systematic handicap of transfer or in the developing countries in Latin America, so the influence of institution upon labor migration is beyond research, as is blank in this theory. This article tries to give a stroke on the blank sheet of paper by studying rural labor migration from the national situation that the market economy of our country is imperfect and labor flow coexists with obvious institutional obstacle. In addition, this paper systematically penetrates into the problems of rural labor migration and related solutions from the viewpoint of dynamic institutional change, making up the defect of static research approach from mainstream domestic academics.As an intrinsic variable of economic and social development, institution imposes a great restricted influence upon rural labor migration. This paper integrates neo-institutional economic theory into labor migration theory so as to study surplus rural labor migration form a new perspective:we can look for the defect of the current institution from labor migration obstacles, and access to problems existing in rural labor migration from the viewpoint of institutional analysis, and remove the obstacles to counteract labor migration to promote labor migration by means of new institutional arrangements. Although the integration of related theories is far from founding "economics of labor migration system", yet the probe is of great benefit.Discussing the topic of "A Research of Rural Labor migration of Our Country from the Perspective of Institutional change", this paper is treated into nine chapters in three parts.Chapter One:Introduction. This chapter discusses the background and significance of the topic, the logical frame and research method, and defines the connotation of related concepts, evaluates the possible innovations and defects.Part One, basic theoretical research, which is divided into three chapters:The first is labor migration theory. On the basis of large quantity of literature search, coordination and review, chapter two renders the research achievements of the labor migration theory as basic theory for reference. Meanwhile, the current situation of theoretical research, the front problem and the weakness are made clear to provide the foundation for this paper to approach from the point of system.The second is institutional change theory. Chapter three separately summarizes and gives a brief introduction to the institutional change theories of the representatives of the classical institutional school, neo-institutional school, neo-liberal economics school, and Marxist institutional change theory.The third is the theory of two basic conditions of achieving rural labor migration. Chapter four mainly argues "the development of non-agriculture attracting rural labor" is the prerequisite that the rural surplus labor can transfer; institution immediately restricts whether rural surplus labor can transfer and the degree to transfer, so reforming and transforming the old system that blocks labor migration is the sufficient condition for rural surplus labor to transfer. These two basic conditional theories provide the theoretical foundation to research the subsequent chapters, especially chapter nine, proceeding with the analysis from the two basic conditions.Part Two, the positive analytical part, is divided into four chapters.Chapter five to chapter six emphasizes particularly on the positive study on rural labor migration of our country. The two chapters mainly analyze and study, from the positive point of view, the track, trait, path and benefit game of rural labor migration of our country and defects latent in institutional change as well since we adopted the reform and opening policy more than 30 years ago, and expound the reason of the local government's versatile acts and the executive deviation against the population flowing policy mandated by the central government.Chapter seven positively analyzes the new changes and main characters of the current rural labor migration. It's thought that "the new changes" focus on:the labor migration has entered into a new stage of limited young labor in our country, the new generation of migrant workers have become the main body of migrant work force. This chapter concludes and analyzes the five characters ranging from totality, demology, flowing direction, flowing "periodicity" to flowing "long-cherished wish"Chapter eight further positively analyzes major problems and institutional deficiency that migrant workers are facing nowadays from the institutional perspective. It's thought that the root of the problems that migrant workers are facing lies in the institutional deficiency, including institutional arrangements to safeguard migrant workers' rights and welfare; there're defects implied in some institutional design, which counteract its effectiveness; some new institutional arrangements have not been properly put into practice in fact, which in itself is a institutional deficiency; some institutional arrangements have not broken through the constraints of system surrounding, which cannot fundamentally solve the problems; the institutional arrangements to safeguard migrant workers' rights and welfare still remain in the stage of policy and regulation, which lack full and effective protection by laws and statues.Part Three, a probe into solutions, i.e. chapter nine. Proceeding with "institutionalizing the safeguard of migrant workers' rights and welfare" and "constituting related industrial policies to urge non-agricultural industries to attract more labor and spur the transfer", I put forward some institutional arrangements to facilitate the transfer.The institutional arrangement design of "safeguarding migrant workers'rights and welfare to facilitate the transfer" discusses six ways to deal with the major problems and difficulties that rural labor migration faces:we have to establish and perfect fair and reasonable salary system catering to migrant workers, as is the most important institutional arrangement to safeguard migrant workers' rights and welfare nowadays; establish uniform social security system and public service system, ensuring migrant workers to enjoy the right of fair treatment; establish and perfect labor employment service system integrating the city and countryside, creating conditions for migrant workers to have equal opportunity of employment and improve their ability of employment; speed up the reform of household system, to gradually solve the problem of migrant workers settling down in the city or town; promote legislation to safeguard migrant workers' due rights and welfare, and improve legal execution to ensure new institution to be carried out; construct comprehensive urban humanistic environment for peasant workers to integrate into urban lifestyle."Constituting related industrial policies to urge non-agricultural industries to attract more labor" involves policies to support the development of labor density and service industries; policies to prop up middle and small enterprises; policies to encourage labor density industries to move from the eastern coastal area to mid-west area; policies to encourage and prop up migrant workers to return to their hometowns to thrive; policies to facilitate the coordinative development of big, middle-sized and small cities and towns.
Keywords/Search Tags:Rural Labor Migration, Institutional Change, Rights and Welfare of Migrant Workers
PDF Full Text Request
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