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Market Transition and the Deinstitutionalization of Standard Work Hours in Post-Socialist China

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  • Yang Cao
  • Beth A. Rubin

Abstract

The authors investigate the relationship between market transition and work hours in urban China. Regression analysis of data from the 2006 Chinese General Social Survey reveals a negative relationship between economic marketization, measured at the province level, and the likelihood that an employee works standard hours. Standard hours are less common among those working for smaller employers, which are less subject to outside scrutiny. This relationship between employer size and standard hours is stronger in more marketized regions. These findings support the authors’ argument that standard work hours are deinstitutionalized as employers strive for low cost and flexibility in China’s increasingly marketized but poorly regulated economy. Comparisons of the Chinese experience with recent trends in the United States reveal remarkable similarities in the weakening of social employment contracts precipitated by the ascendency of markets and the systematic disempowering of labor.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Cao & Beth A. Rubin, 2014. "Market Transition and the Deinstitutionalization of Standard Work Hours in Post-Socialist China," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(3), pages 864-890, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:67:y:2014:i:3:p:864-890
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793914537454
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