IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i14p11409-d1200346.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Interplay of Migrant Workers’ Working Hours, Income, and Well-Being in China

Author

Listed:
  • Fei Zhang

    (College of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China)

  • Wei Xu

    (School of Public Management and Law, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China)

  • Adnan Khurshid

    (College of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China)

Abstract

There is a history of overwork in China, and regulations to protect workers are insufficient. This study explores the relationship between working long hours and self-rated health among rural-urban migrant workers in China. Survey data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) is used to construct a simultaneous equation model, and the 3SLS method is applied. The results showed that: (1) Migrant workers had good health. However, overtime work is very common among migrant workers in China, and male migrants work more overtime. (2) Migrant laborers’ health and income are causally related, with better health leading to higher income. In contrast, the compensatory effect of income by extending working hours on health is smaller than the damage caused by overtime work for the male migrants who have more severe overtime work, resulting in a negative income effect on health. (3) The incentive effect of income on labor supply and the positive interaction effect of increasing labor hours to increase income are only reflected in the standard labor time sample. Therefore, for the heavy overwork group whose working hours have already reached the limit, income increases can no longer motivate them to extend their labor hours. Therefore, provincial and national policy transformations are needed to regularize working hours and remuneration while maintaining individual health.

Suggested Citation

  • Fei Zhang & Wei Xu & Adnan Khurshid, 2023. "The Interplay of Migrant Workers’ Working Hours, Income, and Well-Being in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:11409-:d:1200346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/11409/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/11409/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Wunder, Christoph, 2018. "Do working hours affect health? Evidence from statutory workweek regulations in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 162-171.
    2. Paul Contoyannis & Andrew M. Jones & Nigel Rice, 2004. "The dynamics of health in the British Household Panel Survey," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 473-503.
    3. Kamila Cygam-Rehm & Christoph Wunder, 2018. "Do Working Hours Affect Health? Evidence from Statutory Workweek Regulations in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 967, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, May.
    5. Lixin Cai, 2021. "The effects of health on the extensive and intensive margins of labour supply," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(1), pages 87-117, January.
    6. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    7. Nie, Peng & Otterbach, Steffen & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Long work hours and health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 212-229.
    8. Diego Nocetti & William T. Smith, 2011. "Precautionary Saving and Endogenous Labor Supply with and without Intertemporal Expected Utility," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(7), pages 1475-1504, October.
    9. Taehyun Ahn, 2016. "Reduction of Working Time: Does It Lead to a Healthy Lifestyle?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(8), pages 969-983, August.
    10. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    11. Sato, Kaori & Kuroda, Sachiko & Owan, Hideo, 2020. "Mental health effects of long work hours, night and weekend work, and short rest periods," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    12. Van Ourti, Tom, 2003. "Socio-economic inequality in ill-health amongst the elderly: Should one use current or permanent income?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 219-241, March.
    13. Frijters, Paul & Haisken-DeNew, John P. & Shields, Michael A., 2005. "The causal effect of income on health: Evidence from German reunification," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 997-1017, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maite Blázquez & Elena Cottini & Ainhoa Herrarte, 2014. "The socioeconomic gradient in health: how important is material deprivation?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 239-264, June.
    2. Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina & Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel, 2008. "Persistence in health limitations: A European comparative analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1472-1488, December.
    3. Berniell, Inés & Bietenbeck, Jan, 2020. "The effect of working hours on health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    4. Jones, A. M. & Laporte, A. & Rice, N. & Zucchelli, E., 2014. "A synthesis of the Grossman and Becker-Murphy models of health and addiction: theoretical and empirical implications," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 14/07, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    5. Lauren E. Jones & Guangyi Wang & Tansel Yilmazer, 2022. "The long‐term effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on women's physical and mental health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1067-1102, June.
    6. INUI Tomohiko & KAWAKAMI Atsushi & MA Xin Xin & ZHAO Meng, 2019. "Does Mental Health Affect Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from a National Representative Survey in Japan," Discussion papers 19061, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Jared C. Carbone & Snorre Kverndokk, 2016. "Individual Investments in Education and Health: Policy Responses and Interactions," CESifo Working Paper Series 6154, CESifo.
    8. Carbone, Jared C. & Kverndokk, Snorre, 2014. "Individual investments in education and health," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2014:1, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    9. Terhi Ravaska, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 6, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    10. Ravaska, Terhi, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 153, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Andrew M. Jones & Audrey Laporte & Nigel Rice & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2019. "Dynamic panel data estimation of an integrated Grossman and Becker–Murphy model of health and addiction," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 703-733, February.
    12. Abeliansky, Ana Lucia & Strulik, Holger, 2018. "How season of birth affects health and aging," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 352, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    13. Munford, Luke A. & Fichera, Eleonora & Sutton, Matt, 2020. "Is owning your home good for your health? Evidence from exogenous variations in subsidies in England," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    14. Grace Lordan & Eliana Jimenez Soto & Richard P. C. Brown & Ignacio Correa‐Valez, 2012. "Socioeconomic status and health outcomes in a developing country," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 178-186, February.
    15. Arrighi, Y. & Rapp, T. & Sirven, N., 2017. "The impact of economic conditions on the disablement process: A Markov transition approach using SHARE data," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(7), pages 778-785.
    16. Juan Palacios & Piet Eichholtz & Nils Kok & Erdal Aydin, 2021. "The impact of housing conditions on health outcomes," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1172-1200, December.
    17. Abeliansky, Ana Lucia & Strulik, Holger, 2018. "Hungry children age faster," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 211-220.
    18. Schnalzenberger, Mario, 2016. "Causal effect of income on health: Investigating two closely related policy reforms in Austria," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 6-16.
    19. Lucas Hafner & Benjamin Lochner, 2022. "Do minimum wages improve self-rated health? Evidence from a natural experiment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(6), pages 2989-3014, June.
    20. Taehyun Ahn, 2022. "Workweek reduction and women's job turnover: Evidence from labor legislation in South Korea," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1607-1625, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:11409-:d:1200346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.