Description: Informal Employment in Urban China : Measurement and Implications

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Informal Employment in Urban China : Measurement and Implications

Because of China's socialist legacy, until recently little attention has been paid to the rise of informal employment. Under planning urban workers enjoyed guaranteed employment, housing, pensions, and health care. The prevalence of informal e...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Park, Albert, Wu, Yaowu, Du, Yang
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:	AGE GROUP AGE GROUPS CASUAL WORKERS DISMISSAL ECONOMIC GROWTH EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EMPLOYEE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYMENT RATES EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP EMPLOYMENT SHARE FAMILIES HEALTH CARE HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH SERVICES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS INCOME INFORMAL ECONOMY INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMAL LABOR MARKETS INFORMAL SECTOR INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE IRON JOB CREATION JOB STATUS JOBS LABOR CONTRACT LABOR CONTRACTS LABOR DEMAND LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR LAW LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKET DEVELOPMENT LABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONS LABOR MARKETS LABOR REGULATIONS LABOUR LABOUR OFFICE LAID-OFF WORKER LAWS LAYOFFS LIFETIME JOB SECURITY MIGRANT WORKERS MIGRANTS MIGRATION OCCUPATION OLDER WORKERS PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT PERSONNEL PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTORS PUBLIC SERVICES SERVICE SECTOR SEVERANCE PAY SICK LEAVE SMALL BUSINESSES SOCIAL PROTECTION STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES TRANSITION ECONOMIES UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE UNPAID FAMILY WORKERS URBAN EMPLOYMENT URBAN WORKERS WAGE EMPLOYMENT WAGES WORK FORCE WORK HOURS WORK LOCATION WORKER WORKING WORKING CONDITIONS WORKING HOURS WORKING TIME YOUNGER WORKERS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/383331468220789675/Informal-employment-in-urban-China-measurement-and-implications http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27218

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Summary:	Because of China's socialist legacy, until recently little attention has been paid to the rise of informal employment. Under planning urban workers enjoyed guaranteed employment, housing, pensions, and health care. The prevalence of informal employment has important implications for public policies, because informality is often associated with poverty and social vulnerability, and it affects tax collection, the enforcement of labor regulations, and the provision of adequate social protection to workers and their families. Informality thus can be characterized by dualism, including both those who engage in informal work of their own volition and those who do so involuntarily because they are systematically excluded from formal employment opportunities. The goal of this paper is to provide for the first time an accurate measurement of informal employment in China by analyzing data from recent household surveys collected in six large Chinese cities in 2010. The surveys were designed by the authors with questions included to enable measurement of informality using accepted international standards set by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as well as by considering factors relevant in the Chinese context. The authors provide a number of insights into the extent and nature of informal employment and labor market development in China. The large payroll charges for social insurance programs create a disincentive for both employers and employees to participate.