IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/intlab/v160y2021i3p363-385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Faltering standardization: Conflict and labour relations in China's taxi and sanitation industries

Author

Listed:
  • Hao ZHANG
  • Eli FRIEDMAN

Abstract

The marketization of municipal services in China's cities from the 1990s triggered a wave of strikes beginning in the 2000s that provided an impetus towards standardization and the re‐regulation of employment conditions. On the basis of a study of the sanitation and taxi industries in the cities of Wenzhou and Guangzhou, the authors find that local governments have utilized three strategies in promoting standardization: unionization, public policy implementation and business consolidation. Although outcomes vary across the cases considered, institutionalization remains weak at best and conflicts persist. The article concludes by presenting a schema for comparing the different strategies identified in these cases and those historically institutionalized in the West.

Suggested Citation

  • Hao ZHANG & Eli FRIEDMAN, 2021. "Faltering standardization: Conflict and labour relations in China's taxi and sanitation industries," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 363-385, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:160:y:2021:i:3:p:363-385
    DOI: 10.1111/ilr.12206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12206
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ilr.12206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Friedman, Eli & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2015. "Experimentation and decentralization in China's labor relations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65140, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Bernd Brandl & Franz Traxler, 2005. "Industrial Relations, Social Pacts and Welfare Expenditures: A Cross‐national Comparison," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(4), pages 635-658, December.
    3. Chang-Hee Lee & William Brown & Xiaoyi Wen, 2016. "What Sort of Collective Bargaining Is Emerging in China?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 214-236, March.
    4. Kuruvilla, Sarosh & Zhang, Hao, 2016. "Labor unrest and incipient collective bargaining in China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65208, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Kuruvilla, Sarosh & Zhang, Hao, 2016. "Labor Unrest and Incipient Collective Bargaining in China," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 159-187, March.
    6. Elfstrom, Manfred & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2014. "The changing nature of labor unrest in China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65141, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Eichengreen, Barry & Iversen, Torben, 1999. "Institutions and Economic Performance: Evidence from the Labour Market," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 15(4), pages 121-138, Winter.
    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. Elaine Sio‐ieng Hui, 2022. "Bottom‐Up Unionization in China: A Power Resources Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(1), pages 99-123, March.
    2. Li, Chunyun, 2021. "From insurgency to movement: an embryonic labor movement undermining hegemony in South China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101456, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Wei Huang, 2022. "What sort of workplace democracy can democratic management achieve in China?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 578-601, November.
    4. Zhang, Yunhan & Liu, Zhixin & Jin, Hao, 2025. "The domestic and spillover effects of fiscal consolidation: The role of fiscal instruments, exchange rate regimes, and capital controls," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Pengxin Xie & Lian Zhou, 2022. "Keeping dispute resolution internal: Exploring the role of the industrial relations climate, organizational embeddedness and organizational turbulence," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 898-917, May.
    6. H Buscher & C Dreger & R Ramos & J Surinach, 2009. "The Impact of Institutions on the Employment Performance in European Labour Markets," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 14(1), pages 17-34, March.
    7. repec:sus:susphd:1316 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. He, Xinming & Rizov, Marian & Zhang, Xufei, 2022. "Workforce size adjustment as a strategic response to exchange rate shocks: A strategy-tripod application to Chinese firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 203-213.
    9. Doner, Richard, 2012. "Success as Trap? Crisis Response And Challenges To Economic Upgrading in Export-Oriented Southeast Asia," Working Papers 45, JICA Research Institute.
    10. Jonas Ljungberg & Anders Ögren, 2017. "Exchange rates, catch up, and lagging behind in Europe since 1870," Working Papers 17022, Economic History Society.
    11. Baccaro, Lucio & Simoni, Marco, 2010. "Organizational determinants of wage moderation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33510, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Bei Qin & David Strömberg & Yanhui Wu, 2024. "Social Media and Collective Action in China," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(6), pages 1993-2026, November.
    13. Judith Shuqin Zhu & Chris Nyland, 2017. "Chinese employer associations, institutional complementarity and countervailing power," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(2), pages 284-301, April.
    14. Chris Minns & Marian Rizov, 2015. "Institutions, history and wage bargaining outcomes: international evidence from the post-World War Two era," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(3), pages 358-375, April.
    15. Floro Ernesto Caroleo, 2000. "Le politiche per l'occupazione in Europa: una tassonomia istituzionale," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2000(71).
    16. Lu Zhang & Tao Yang, 2022. "Worker Activism and Enterprise Union Reform in China: A Case Study of Grassroots Union Agency in the Auto Parts Industry," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(2), pages 396-423, March.
    17. Sumon Bhaumik & Ralitza Dimova & Subal C. Kumbhakar & Kai Sun, 2012. "Does Institutional Quality Affect Firm Performance? Insights from a Semi-Parametric Approach," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1029, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    18. Wolfgang Pollan, 2004. "Zur Frage der Lohnführerschaft in Österreich," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 77(3), pages 197-211, March.
    19. repec:wdi:papers:2011-1029 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Peter Mooslechner & Martin Schürz, 2001. "The Interaction of Wage Bargaining Institutions and an Independent Central Bank – A Methodological Reflection on Current Theories," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 487-506, December.
    21. Andrea Bassanini & Ekkehard Ernst, 2002. "Labour market regulation, industrial relations and technological regimes: a tale of comparative advantage," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 391-426, June.
    22. Fuxi Wang & Bernard Gan & Yanyuan Cheng & Lin Peng & Jiaojiao Feng & Liquian Yang & Yiheng Xi, 2019. "China’s Employment Contract Law: Does it deliver employment security?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(1), pages 99-119, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:intlab:v:160:y:2021:i:3:p:363-385. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ilounch.html .

    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.