How Does China's New Labor Contract Law Affect Floating Workers?

Richard Freeman and Xiaoying Li

No 19254, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: China's new Labor Contract Law took effect on January 2008 and required firms to give migrant workers written contracts, strengthened labor protections for workers and contained penalties for firms that did not follow the labor code. This paper uses survey data of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta before and after the law and a retrospective question on when workers received their first labor contract to assess the effects of the law on labor outcomes. The evidence shows that the new law increased the percentage of migrant workers with written contracts, which in turn raised social insurance coverage, reduced the likelihood of wage arrears, and raised the likelihood that the worker had a union at their workplace.

JEL-codes: J01 J28 J53 K31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-lab, nep-lma, nep-ltv, nep-mig and nep-tra
Note: LE LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as How Does China's New Labour Contract Law Affect Floating Workers? Xiaoying Li1 andRichard B. Freeman2 Article first published online: 15 FEB 2014 British Journal of Industrial Relations

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Journal Article: How Does China's New Labour Contract Law Affect Floating Workers? (2015)
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