Title :

Analysing wages and labour institutions in China: An unfinished transition

Author(s) :

Perisse, Muriel [Auteur]
Lille économie management - UMR 9221 [LEM]
Séhier, Clément [Auteur]
Centre Lillois d’Études et de Recherches Sociologiques et Économiques - UMR 8019 [CLERSÉ]

Journal title :

The Economic and Labour Relations Review

Abbreviated title :

The Economic and Labour Relations Review

Volume number :

30

Pages :

400-421

Publisher :

SAGE Publications

Publication date :

2019-07-17

ISSN :

1035-3046

English keyword(s) :

China
employment relationship
global value chains
industrial upgrading
labour institutions
social upgrading
wages

HAL domain(s) :

Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Economies et finances

English abstract : [en]

The rise of wages in China would seem to indicate that the demographic dividend has reached its end. A more refined approach reveals, however, that the situation of Chinese workers has not really improved: even though real ...
Show more >The rise of wages in China would seem to indicate that the demographic dividend has reached its end. A more refined approach reveals, however, that the situation of Chinese workers has not really improved: even though real wages are rising, the share of wages in the nation’s wealth has not kept pace. The reason for this is China’s position within global value chains, where the employment relationship is not solely governed by the employer–employee power relationship, but by contractual relations established between ‘lead firms’ and subcontractors. This situation echoes labour institutional economist JR Commons’ concept of ‘competitive menace’ and analyses of the structural imbalance of power in the employer/employee relationship. We argue that despite the Chinese government’s desire for industrial upgrading and its intention to develop internal labour markets, Chinese labour institutions have shown significant resistance to change making it hard to envisage any shift towards a Fordist regime of capital accumulation based on a virtuous cycle of mass production and mass consumption. JEL codes: B52, J30Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Peer reviewed article :

Oui

Audience :

Internationale

Popular science :

Non

Administrative institution(s) :

Université de Lille
CNRS
Univ. Littoral Côte d’Opale

Collections :

• Centre Lillois d'Études et de Recherches Sociologiques et Économiques (CLERSE) - UMR 8019
• Lille Économie Management (LEM) - UMR 9221

Submission date :

2020-04-19T12:58:41Z
2020-04-20T08:11:22Z