The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China

Few studies in the field of labor economics have analyzed the earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban China. Due to data limitations, previous studies on this subject have not yielded accurate and widely acceptable results. This study seeks to obtain more accurate result...

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Main Author: Hong Zuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: VIZJA University 2013-10-01
Series:Contemporary Economics
Online Access:http://ce.vizja.pl/en/download-pdf/id/294
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author Hong Zuo
author_facet Hong Zuo
author_sort Hong Zuo
collection DOAJ
description Few studies in the field of labor economics have analyzed the earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban China. Due to data limitations, previous studies on this subject have not yielded accurate and widely acceptable results. This study seeks to obtain more accurate results by analyzing the earnings differential based on the conceptual framework of informal employment developed by the 17th International Conference of Labor Statisticians. We analyzed data from the 2006 Chinese General Social Survey, using the Lee model to correct for selection bias and decomposing the earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban China in terms of the effects of employee characteristics, employment, and working hours. The latter two of these comprise the segmentation effect. We found that only 33% of the observed earnings differential can be explained by employee characteristics; the remaining 67% is attributable to the segmentation effect. The working hours effect narrows the earnings differential. Based on the results of our analysis, we conclude that informal employees in urban China, especially female informal employees, suffer from segmentation and that policies to address segmentation issues are needed.
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spelling doaj-art-9ee53222aa7a412cbfcd0373db44bd7f2025-08-20T02:00:42ZengVIZJA UniversityContemporary Economics2084-08452013-10-0173112410.5709/ce.1897-9254.93The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban ChinaHong ZuoFew studies in the field of labor economics have analyzed the earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban China. Due to data limitations, previous studies on this subject have not yielded accurate and widely acceptable results. This study seeks to obtain more accurate results by analyzing the earnings differential based on the conceptual framework of informal employment developed by the 17th International Conference of Labor Statisticians. We analyzed data from the 2006 Chinese General Social Survey, using the Lee model to correct for selection bias and decomposing the earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban China in terms of the effects of employee characteristics, employment, and working hours. The latter two of these comprise the segmentation effect. We found that only 33% of the observed earnings differential can be explained by employee characteristics; the remaining 67% is attributable to the segmentation effect. The working hours effect narrows the earnings differential. Based on the results of our analysis, we conclude that informal employees in urban China, especially female informal employees, suffer from segmentation and that policies to address segmentation issues are needed.http://ce.vizja.pl/en/download-pdf/id/294
spellingShingle Hong Zuo
The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
Contemporary Economics
title The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
title_full The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
title_fullStr The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
title_full_unstemmed The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
title_short The Earnings Differential between Formal and Informal Employees in Urban China
title_sort earnings differential between formal and informal employees in urban china
url http://ce.vizja.pl/en/download-pdf/id/294
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AT hongzuo earningsdifferentialbetweenformalandinformalemployeesinurbanchina