Recalculating the agricultural labor force in China

Qi Dong, Tomoaki Murakami and Yasuhiro Nakashima

China Economic Journal, 2018, vol. 11, issue 2, 151-169

Abstract: In this study, we use a hypothetical method to recalculate the agricultural labor force based on statistical data on the labor force in China. We confirm the revised agricultural labor force data by estimating the agricultural production function. Through comparing the marginal labor productivity with the subsistence level of wages in the agricultural sector, we find that the overstated figures of agricultural labor force not only result in the underestimation of agricultural labor productivity but also are misleading by indicating that China reaches the Lewis turning point later than in actuality. The process of labor transfer in China, a large part of which is through rural migrant workers, has been much faster than expected.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1080/17538963.2018.1458431

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