People Of Migrant Workers And Local Government Actions

Since China implemented its reform and opening up policies, migrant workers made great contribution for economic development of urban area, but it is difficult to obtain the equal rights in employment, residence, social security, education of children and other aspects, most of migrant workers do not realize to settle down stably in cities. This is at the root of income gap in urban and rural, and lacking growth in domestic demand.Most scholars think the segmentation system of urban labor market due to the existence of the household registration system. Since the beginning the new century, government at all levels have push forward reform of the household registration system for some degree, taken a lot of measures to promote employment for migrant workers. Although they have achieved some results, migrant workers can’t obtain equal right of social welfare and public service no less than cities people, so they can’t settle down in large and medium-sized cities.The article reviews in the existing system, migrate workers can’t settle down in the cities due to the local government lack of financial resources to provide public products. The breakthrough to solve the problems of migrant workers is changing the behavior model and incentive mechanism of the local government.In the economic system of decentralization, the local governments at all levels produce the independent economic interests and the strong motivation of promoting economic growth. After the tax reform in1994, central authority take back fiscal rights on income and devolve the responsibility, so local government have more impetus in expanding the financial resources and promote economic growth, at the same time limiting the scope and the force of public spending.In order to promote economic growth, the government in cities need migrant workers engaged to the works that urbanite do not want to do or it do not have a comparative advantage, such as labor-intensive industry and service jobs; on the other hand, In order not to increase the supply of public products liability, government limit strictly the scope of public product supply through continue the economic features of urban and rural segmentation system. In other words, the local government take advantage of migrant workers’ the economic value at the same time reduce the expending responsibility and public service as far as possible, so as to form the system and policy orientation of exploit and restrictions to migrant workers, which is the root of difficult to settle down in the cities.Under the restriction of local government maximizing the interests and the fiscal decentralization, there is two types system on the migrant workers settling down in the cities. One system constitutes a barrier to migrant workers settling down in the cities, that is the dual system determined by household registration and rural-urban segmentation such as education, health care, social security, housing, employment system. The other is a supportive system for migrant workers into the cities, including the market system established gradually since the reform and relatively flexible labor employment system is the economic motivation and institutional conditions of the migrant workers flocking to cities.The result of supporting system and hindering system form the microscopic structure for employment of migrant workers in cities. This structure determines the reality of the situation of migrant workers in the city:temporary employment is almost unlimited, migrant workers has been achieved in the country’s large-scale flow; in some areas, when they lack of labor supply what is called "labor shortage", the local government may also take some incentive measure.However, from the overall opinion, the institutional and policy measures for urbanizing of migrant workers still lack, the depth of the population urbanization is insufficient, migrant workers are difficult to integrate into the urban mainstream society. The lack of these institutional arrangements leads to migrant workers lacking stable expectations of future income and economic status, the majority in the flow state rather than settling down in the city. The institutional arrangements may also make accumulation of human capital deficiency, consumption on the low level, tendency of savings too high.Only by establishing a beneficial institution and policy arrangement for migrant workers and the depth of urbanization, can we really solve the problems of migrant workers in China. First, by establishing the principle of the unity of rights and financial power, reforming the fiscal decentralization system, adjusting the financial relationship between the central and local government, reforming the system of transfer payments, reconstructing and improving the evaluation system of local government, change the local government behavior patterns and incentives, stimulate local governments provide equal public services for migrant workers.Second, the local government need improve public expenditure responsibility for migrant workers. The central government may enact a policy of equal employment laws and regulations in the aspects of the basic education, social security, affordable housing and so on, to share the cost of city government, establish the internet-based information and payment system covering urban and rural, transfer and continue the social security system.Third, through a series of institutional change and legislative reform, it is necessary to re-construct the relationship between local government and the migrant workers, to guarantee the basic rights for migrant workers.In short, only by reforming the system of impeding migrant workers settle down in cities, improving supportive institutional system for them, re-constructing the micro-institutional basis for them enter into cities, can local government change the unfavorable situation of migrant workers in cities, gradually eliminate the urban-rural dual structure.