Labour Administration Reforms in China

[Excerpt] This publication provides an explanation of the comprehensive labour administration system in China, including its recent advances, with emphasis on its public services functions, such as public employment, labour inspection and social insurance services. With the recent improvements to both the legal framework and the institutions of labour administration, it is believed that these public services will play bigger and more active roles in ensuring compliance with legislation and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employers and workers alike

Chinese peasant entrepreneurs: an examination of township and village

One of the greatest achievements in China's economic reform is the development of rural township and village enterprises (TVEs). Their importance in the national economy can be seen from the fact that by the end of 1993, TVEs accounted for nearly one third of the agricultural labour force, and one fifth of the total labour force nationwide. Despite some research attention being given to Chinese TVEs, the peasant entrepreneurs, owners and /or managers of these enterprises have remained largely unknown in the West. Who are they? Where are they from? What are their unique characteristics which distinguish them from both managers in the state-owned Chinese enterprises (SOEs) and small business owners /entrepreneurs in the West? What environmental factors contribute to the shaping of these characteristics? What are the problems faced by them and the possible solutions? This paper addresses these questions

China's Township and Village Enterprises and their Evolving Business Alliances and Organizational Change.

The economic literature suggests that the success of China's WEs has arisen due to special circumstances. This paper argues, to the contrary, that they are likely to remain a significant feature of the Chinese economy, albeit in new organisational and ownership forms, for some time. Their evolving strategic business alliances, including that with science based research institutions, it is argued, will make this possible.OWNERSHIP ; BUSINESS ORGANIZATION ; ECONOMIC GROWTH

“Made in China”: Crisis begets quality upgrade

The quality of manufactured products made in China has improved tremendously in the past several decades. In this paper, we argue that crises are instruments for the upgrade of Chinese manufactured goods. We first develop a theoretical framework to show that a crisis, if used wisely, could present good opportunities for entrepreneurs and local governments to form collective action to improve product quality. Next, we empirically test the hypothesis using a panel data set from 1990 to 2008 covering more than 100 clusters in the Zhejiang Province of China.Cluster, crisis, manufacturing industry, quality upgrade,

An examination of wage determination in China’s rural industrial sector

Under traditional Chinese socialist ideology, labour is not considered as a commodity, and wages are not viewed as the price of labour. Market oriented economic reform initiated in the late 1970s, however, has brought some changes to this politically sensitive area—pricing and allocation of labour, especially in the rural industrial sector, are now much more sensitive to market pressures. This paper surveys the performance of labour markets in China's rural industrial sector after 10 years of economic reform. It examines whether conventional models of wage determination, modified to reflect the peculiar circumstances of the Chinese rural labour market, can be used to explain variations in wages in this sector of China. It is found that after only a decade of change, the pattern of wage determination in rural China has many parallels with wage determination in Western countries.wage; china

Financing rural development for a harmonious society in China : recent reforms in public finance and their prospects

The Government of China has placed strong emphasis on addressing problems related to agriculture, farmers, and rural society, with the development of a"new socialist countryside"designated as a top priority for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). The financing of public services in rural areas will be a key determinant of the Plan's success. This report analyzes the performance of the intergovernmental fiscal system - the financing of rural development through counties, townships, and villages - and the impact of recent reforms. The authors show that achieving the government's objectives will require channeling substantial new resources to rural areas. In addition, ensuring the effective transfer of resources and their efficient utilization will require fundamental reforms to a wide range of public institutions, including budget and planning processes, personnel management systems, and the organization of government agencies. The authors argue that a comprehensive reform strategy is needed to address fundamental vertical and horizontal imbalances in the intergovernmental fiscal system The reforms must reach beyond the fiscal system to build improved accountability mechanisms to improve public service delivery at the grassroots level. And, given China's size and diversity, reform efforts must focus on improving incentive structures at the county, township, and village levels.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Access to Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Debt Markets,

China's Innovation System and the Move Toward Harmonious Growth and Endogenous Innovation

Observers around the world are impressed by the rapid growth of China’s economy. While outside observers tend to focus on the success story of unprecedented growth policy documents and recent domestic debates in China have pointed to the need for a shift in the growth trajectory with stronger emphasis on ‘endogenous innovation’ and ‘harmonious development’. This paper attempts to capture the current characteristics of China’s production and innovation system; how they were shaped by history and what major challenges they raise for the future. On the basis of the analysis the authors propose that it is possible to link together the two key concepts ‘endogenous innovation’ and ‘harmonious development’ by focusing innovation and development efforts in China on domestic needs, including social needs, rather than a one-sided focus on export-promotion and commodity production.China; economic growth; R&D; innovation systems

Group Behavior and Development: A Comparison of Farmers' Organisations in South Korea and Taiwan

This study presents a comparative analysis of farmers' organisations in Korea and Taiwan during 1950-80 in order to help us understand the role of group behavior in affecting development outcomes. It highlights the linkages between group behavior, parastatal organisational structures and economic performance. The paper examines the historical and political economy contexts that led to the creation of both countries' farmers' organisations and highlights the institutional characteristics that impacted their operational effectiveness. The study discusses elements in internal and external policies that affected group motivation and traces the implications of such differences in group behavior for bottom line performance. Though there existed many similarities in both organisational structure and operations, it is argued that differential intra-group behavioral dynamics led to differences in agricultural performance. Although, with the declining importance of agriculture, the relative importance of such organisations has declined in recent years, the study is relevant for developing countries at every stage of development.Farmers' Organizations, Korea, Taiwan, Group Behavior

The transfer of western management to China: Context, content and constraints

This paper examines the issue of transferring Western management knowhow to China, focusing on the context, content and constraints of the transfer. A model of the transfer of management knowhow is developed which contains five closely-related stages: selection, adaptation, application, evaluation and integration. Factors which influence management transfer are identified as environmental, organisational, and cultural and behavioural; while cultural constraint are discussed in detail. It concludes that China cannot depend on the West for the solutions to its problems but develop its own indigenous knowhow by blending the best of both East and West