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Informal employment in C hina: recent development and human resource implications
Author(s) -
Wang Jue,
Cooke Fang Lee,
Lin Zhaohong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
asia pacific journal of human resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.825
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1744-7941
pISSN - 1038-4111
DOI - 10.1111/1744-7941.12099
Subject(s) - labour economics , informal sector , deregulation , bargaining power , economics , government (linguistics) , human resources , state (computer science) , industrial relations , business , market economy , management , linguistics , philosophy , microeconomics , algorithm , computer science
A key feature contributing to the rapid economic development of C hina is the deregulation of the labour market and the dramatic growth in the use of informal employment. This paper reviews recent developments of informal employment in C hina and the role of institutional actors. It also examines the role of government policy and regulation in improving or worsening, directly and indirectly, the terms and conditions of those engaged in informal employment. The study contributes to the understanding of the situation of informal employment in C hina as one of the countries that contains the largest number and proportion, in relation to formal employment, of informal workers, not only in the semi‐ and manual skilled segment, but also increasingly extended to include highly educated workers, notably university graduates. It has implications for employment relations and social policy for foreign firms wishing to enter or already operating in C hina in terms of their human resource acquisition and management. The paper concludes that strong state intervention is necessary to uplift the employment prospect of workers in informal employment, particular in labour markets where workers hold weak bargaining power and are largely unorganised.