Economic Transition and Labour Market Dynamics in China: An Interpretative Survey of the ‘Turning Point’ Debate

Prema-chandra Athukorala and Zheng Wei

Departmental Working Papers from The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics

Abstract: Has the Chinese economy approached the ‘Lewisian turning point’ that marks the ending of the initial phase of industrial transformation fueled by surplus labour? In this paper we undertake an interpretative survey of the literature on this issue, in the context of China’s labour market conditions prior to the reforms and structural change of the past three decades. The available evidence is mixed, and our assessment makes a strong case for probing institutional constraints to labour mobility from an economy-wide perspective, going beyond the confines of the rural economy.

Keywords: China; Lewis model; Surplus labour; economic transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J30 O14 O15 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pas:papers:2015-06

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