Globalization, labor market transformation, and metropolitan earnings inequality

Numerous studies have noted the increasing levels of inequality in American society, but relatively few have linked this inequality to the dynamics of the global economy. In this study, we examine the impact of five measures of globalization (global capital, foreign direct investment, exports, foreign born non-citizens, and foreign born citizens) and six measures of labor market transformation (deindustrialization, corporate restructuring, bureaucratic burden, casualization, bad jobs, and multiple job holding) on metropolitan-level earnings inequality of full-time, full-year workers 16 years and older. Our study makes several major contributions to the literature. First, we update and extend the long line of studies on metropolitan earnings inequality. Second, we show that these various dimensions of globalization and labor market transformation exert independent and mainly polarizing effects on the earnings distributions of metropolitan areas, net of controls for labor market structure and sociodemographic variables. Third, we demonstrate the benefits of looking at the causes of inequality in the upper and lower tails of the earnings distribution. Finally, we develop a procedure to estimate counterfactual values of earnings inequality for all major metropolitan areas in the US in 2000. In the process, the paper provides a comprehensive accounting of the impact of globalization and labor market transformation on metropolitan earnings inequality.     

Marketization,occupational segregation,and gender earnings inequality in urban China

This article analyzes a large sample of the 2005 population mini-census data and prefecture-level statistics of China to investigate gender earnings inequality in the context of economic marketization, paying special attention to the changing role of occupational segregation in the process. We approximate marketization by employment sectors and also construct an index of marketization at the prefecture level. Results show that, despite the tremendous economic growth, marketization has exacerbated gender earnings inequality in urban China's labor markets. Gender earnings inequality is the smallest in government/public institutions, followed by public enterprises, and then private enterprises. The gender inequality also increases with the prefecture's level of marketization. Multilevel analyses show that occupational segregation plays an important role in affecting gender earnings inequality: the greater the occupational segregation, the more disadvantaged women are relative to men in earnings in a prefecture's labor market. Moreover, the impact of occupational segregation on gender earnings inequality increases with the prefectural level of marketization. These findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of gender earnings inequality and have important implications for policy to promote gender equality in urban China.     

Investigating the organizational sources of high-wage earnings growth and rising inequality

Recent studies indicate that the growth of earnings inequality in the United States since the late 1970s reflects organizational changes in the process of earnings determination. Existing research primarily focuses on workplace changes that reduce earnings levels for middle- and low-wage workers despite the importance of high-wage gains for rising inequality. This paper investigates how organizational context affects the relationship between occupation and earnings, with a focus on high-wage occupations. The earnings associated with low-wage occupations do not vary across industry groups. By contrast, the earnings advantages associated with high-wage occupations vary across industry groups in relation to the industry’s prevalence of performance pay practices. Pay initiatives that reward individuals for company performance explain much of the inter-industry variance in managerial and professional earnings slopes. The growth of performance-based pay represents an organizational change in earnings determination that may serve as a mechanism of high-wage earnings growth and rising inequality.     

From institutional segmentation to market fragmentation: Institutional transformation and the shifting stratification order in urban China

Focusing on the changing roles of organizations, this study develops an institutional framework to examine the shifting stratification order since the mid-1990s in urban China. We argue that, after the mid-1990s, the Chinese state led a dual process of institutional transformation. On the one hand, the state dismantled the socialist redistributive system and broke down institutional segmentation based on organizational ownership and bureaucratic rank. On the other hand, the state developed different markets with various paces and strategies, resulting in fragmented market environments. In this context, reformed organizations interacted with heterogeneous market conditions to exert different impacts on multiple dimensions of social inequality. We draw empirical evidence from two national survey data collected in 1994 and 2003 during a critical period. Our findings show that the foundation of the stratification order has shifted from institutional segmentation to market fragmentation in urban China. This study calls for substantive institutional analysis to better understand the intricate landscape of social inequality in transitional economies.     

劳动力市场分割、培训机会获取与新生代农民工培训收益率差异

新生代农民工就业能力的高低关系到国家经济转型和产业结构升级,通过职业技能培训对提高其就业能力具有重要和深远意义。本文根据调查样本数据,建立Logistic和Stepwise回归模型,在劳动力市场分割视角下分析新生代农民工职业培训选择影响因素并对培训收益率进行研究,发现职业培训对低学历者存在"挤出效应",劳动力市场分割对农民工的培训机会和培训收益方面存在显著影响;与学校教育相比,职业技能培训对新生代农民工收入增长作用仍待进一步提高。据分析,政府必须统筹规划不同劳动力市场的职业技能培训资源,优化配置培训资源;同时,为提高职业培训的效率和效益,必须对免费培训选择性的"提档升级",努力规避培训对低学历的"挤出效应"。     

Field of study variation throughout the college pipeline and its effect on the earnings gap: Differences between ethnic and immigrant groups in Israel

This study demonstrates the analytical leverage gained from considering the entire college pipeline—including the application, admission and graduation stages—in examining the economic position of various groups upon labor market entry. The findings, based on data from three elite universities in Israel, reveal that the process that shapes economic inequality between different ethnic and immigrant groups is not necessarily cumulative. Field of study stratification does not expand systematically from stage to stage and the position of groups on the field of study hierarchy at each stage is not entirely explained by academic preparation. Differential selection and attrition processes, as well as ambition and aspirations, also shape the position of ethnic groups in the earnings hierarchy and generate a non-cumulative pattern. These findings suggest that a cross-sectional assessment of field of study inequality at the graduation stage can generate misleading conclusions about group-based economic inequality among workers with a bachelor’s degree.     

垄断劳动力市场、最低工资限制和不平等

关于劳动力垄断市场对于加总经济和社会福利水平的影响,现有主流经济学已经有了很规范的结论,即垄断肯定会造成产出水平和社会福利水平的损失。本论文主要分析劳动力市场的垄断对不平等的影响以及最低工资限制对不平等的作用。本论文的分析表明:首先,同完全竞争的劳动力市场相比,完全垄断市场肯定会加剧不平等;其次,即使在完全竞争劳动力市场下,最低工资限制对不平等的影响也是不一定的,它具体取决于均衡状态劳动需求弹性的大小;最后,在劳动力市场存在买方垄断的情况下,高于完全垄断市场工资水平的最低工资限制肯定会使得失业和不平等同时改善。     

阶层位置与对不平等的态度——关于国企工人阶层的不平等问题研究之一

改革开放以来,随着国企市场化改革的不断深入,既有分配体系的不完善极大影响了国企工人的生活境遇。在社会背景以及拥有的权利资源方面,国企工人不占据优势,相反在市场竞争中逐渐处于劣势。满足个体的需要,是社会正义的一个基本原则,否则个体的正义感难以形成。在经济不平等与政治不平等都极不利于国企工人阶层时,他们只有选择抗拒不平等。     

From general discrimination to segmented inequality: Migration and inequality in urban China

Internal migration in China during the last three decades, the largest in human history, offers a rare opportunity to understand inequalities in the making. Using data spanning 10 years from China’s largest metropolis, Shanghai, this study assesses how enduring state institutions interplay with the spread of market forces to shape income inequality between migrants and native urban workers. Though the wages of both Chinese migrants and urban workers rose considerably, economic restructuring during the decade under study resulted in diminished privileges for urbanites and subsequently increased collision between migrants and urban workers in the private sectors. These shifts, rather than substantially reducing inequality, have led to an evolving form of inequality, from an initial general blatant discrimination against migrants across the board, to a new and more subtle form of inequality characterized by substantial segmented discrimination against migrants within economic sectors, with the degree of inequality varying from sector to sector. We discuss how this changing inequality reflects complementary rather than competing roles of the state and market institutions in inequality creation and maintenance.     

The effects of labor market segmentation on economic resources in retirement

Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics are used to explore the determinants of economic resource levels among recently retired workers. Three income determination models are used to examine significant predictors of economic status using a broad measure of economic well being that includes both retirement income and wealth. Findings indicate that variables used in status attainment, human capital, and labor market segmentation models explain substantial amounts of variance. Applying these models to the longitudinal data provide suggestive information about the crucial life-span characteristics and circumstances that determine economic status as workers enter retirement.     

大学毕业生的择业偏好及其解释——一个基于LMS理论的分析框架

大学毕业生就业难是我国当前亟待解决的一大社会问题。课题组调查发现大学毕业生就业有明显的部门偏好和地区偏好。针对我国劳动力市场的特点,运用劳动力市场分割理论模型对大学生就业进行分析,认为地区间收入差距相对悬殊、转换工作的成本较高、社会保障差异巨大是大学毕业生择业偏好形成的主要原因。因此,要缓解大学生就业难,改变大学生的择业偏好,就必须逐步打破劳动力市场的制度性分割。     

论我国股票市场的投机

"投机"是指为获得远高于社会可靠收益率的收益、在决策依据不足、主观努力的方式和应对市场的手段十分有限的条件下实施的资金投入.衡量市场投机程度应从市场平均期望收益率、机构投资者和散户的数量比及有效调整频率三项指标综合分析判断.据此,我国股市存在过度投机且后果特殊,其导因是中国特有的收入和文化背景.改善投资者收入状况和进行文化创新是消除过度投机的根本所在.     

劳动关系:理论与不同模式的比较

劳动关系是生产关系和社会关系中最重要的组成部分。在资本主义工业化的过程中,劳动关系集中反映了资本主义的本质。20世纪中叶以来,欧洲以社会市场经济为代表的模式对资本主义的劳动关系进行了重大的改造。这种以自由和社会公正为核心的经济模式,使劳动者受到社会保护,要求资本承担社会责任,为劳资两大集团和解与合作,为社会的团结提供了基础。中国在经济体制转型中,劳动关系随着市场化的改革发生了深刻的变化,在一些地方暴露出尖锐的矛盾。如何建立和谐劳动关系成为构建社会主义和谐社会的重要环节。现阶段和谐的劳动关系只能在多层次劳动关系的基础上构建。     

Patterns of labor mobility in a dual economy: The case of semiskilled and unskilled workers

The focus of recent stratification research demonstrates increasing recognition of the structured nature of social inequality. Among the forms these efforts have taken has been the development of a number of models drawing attention to the importance of various labor market decisions or cleavages. The crucial role which restricted labor mobility must play in maintaining these cleavages, while largely untested, has long been recognized. We argue that analysis of the patterns of job sequencing can be used to draw important inferences regarding the existence and character of labor market structures. From this premise, we use job transition data to test a number of propositions derived from dual economy theory, relating to the extent of intersectoral moves and the patterns of intersectoral and intrasectoral moves. Using log-linear methods, we find the hypothesized restricted evidence of intersectoral job shifts and also find patterns of intrasectoral moves indicative of the pervasiveness of rigidly structured internal labor markets in the core. While these results are consistent with a dualistic interpretation, they are equally as consistent with any model emphasizing the existence of strong intrafirm and intraindustry job structures.     

劳动报酬份额和服务业比重的互动影响与均衡决定

劳动报酬份额和服务业比重之间存在复杂的互动影响关系,须通过一般均衡分析,对劳动报酬份额和服务业比重在理论上做出均衡决定。在劳动报酬份额是服务业比重的减函数情况下,社会分工深化、国内企业竞争力提高导致服务业比重提高而劳动报酬份额下降。在劳动报酬份额是服务业比重的增函数情况下,社会分工深化、国内企业竞争力提高、技术"生产"部门扩大、劳动价格提高的影响小于劳动生产率提高的影响,导致劳动报酬份额下降且服务业比重下降。由于劳动报酬份额和服务业比重是相互影响的,旨在提高劳动报酬份额的政策和提高服务业比重的政策必须统筹安排。     

Unions and the structure of earnings inequality: Cross-national patterns

We examine differences in the structure of earnings inequality for men in four advanced western industrialized nations that differ in the nature and extent of unionism: the United States, Canada, Norway, and Sweden. We argue that the economic effects of unionism depend on whether (1) the bargaining structures of labor markets are centralized or fragmented; and (2) the political organization can be characterized as a corporatist or a pressure-group system. We find some support for our principal hypotheses that cross-national differences in systems of collective bargaining and political institutions affect the size of the earnings gap between male union and nonunion members, as well as the extent of wage dispersion among unionized workers.     

从市场均衡就业区间看现代劳动市场的运行特点

市场经济条件下,厂商将其供给量调整到合理水平所需的费用可称为微观调节成本。引进微观调节成本概念,将在宏观层面上界定一个“市场均衡就业区间”,社会就业一旦进入该区间,市场机制便不可能再对其作出调节。确认“市场均衡就业区间”的存在,将使我们在更深层次上认识和把握现代市场经济条件下劳动市场的运行特点:劳动市场是“连续非出清市场”劳动市场的波动是供求总量波动的“减幅谐振”劳动市场存在两个层面的运行失衡劳动市场的调控需采取多种政策措施。     

Compensating differentials, labor market segmentation, and wage inequality

Two literatures on work and the labor market draw attention to the importance of non-pecuniary job amenities. Social psychological perspectives on work suggest that workers have preferences for a range of job amenities (e.g. Halaby, 2003). The compensating differentials hypothesis predicts that workers navigate tradeoffs among different job amenities such that wage inequality overstates inequality in utility (Smith, 1979). This paper joins these perspectives by constructing a new measure of labor market success that evaluates the degree to which workers’ job amenity preferences and outcomes match. This measure of subjective success is used to predict workers’ job satisfaction and to test the hypothesis that some degree of labor force inequality in wages is due to preference-based tradeoffs among all job amenities. Findings demonstrate that the new measure predicts workers’ job satisfaction and provides evidence for the presence of compensating differentials in the primary and intermediate, but not secondary, labor markets.     

悖论的现代性与对新公有制社会选择的探求

悖论的现代性主要体现在民族国家、工人运动、官僚管理、科技、代议制民主、家庭、社会关系、功能差异性以及个人主义等都受到了严重的挑战和质疑。为了在东方传统与西方现代性之间构建起一种平衡,解决现代性所产生的问题,应走参与型公有制社会的道路,它既不以市场也不以国家为中心,而是以市民社会和参与运动为中心的独特的“新公有制社会”。新公有制社会的文化基础包括:涉及参与型社会力量的代理团体,涉及交流技术领域的互联网发展以及涉及社会规范的后传统再检验。在韩国,这些社会文化基础正在形成。