Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor Demand: Evidence from Urban China

Lakshmi Iyer, Xin Meng (), Nancy Qian and Xiaoxue Zhao ()
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Xiaoxue Zhao: Yale University

No 14-047, Harvard Business School Working Papers from Harvard Business School

Abstract: This paper studies the policy determinants of economic transition and estimates the elasticity demand for labor in the infant private sector in urban China. We show that a reform that untied access to housing in urban areas from working for the state sector accounts for more than a quarter of the overall increase in labor supply to the private sector during 1986-2005. We do not find any increase in self-employment. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic, with elasticity estimates ranging between -3.1 and -5.3.

Keywords: Economic Transition; Structural Change; Labor Mobility. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 O12 P2 P26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2013-12, Revised 2016-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor Demand: Evidence from Urban China (2015)
Working Paper: Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor Demand: Evidence from Urban China (2014)
Working Paper: Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor Demand: Evidence from Urban China (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hbs:wpaper:14-047

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