IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v14y2024i2p21582440241259934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wage Bargaining Power of Internal Migrant Workers: Evidence from Urban Labor Market in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yuhong Du
  • Hazrul Shahiri

Abstract

This study analyses the wage bargaining power of employers and internal migrant workers in the urban labor market in China using a two-tiered SFA model. The findings indicate that bargaining power decreases the observed wage relative to the benchmark wage which is associated with worker’s actual productivity. The availability of migrant labor is identified to be a key variable in the wage bargaining process. This study reveals that the migrant workers who obtain jobs via informal job search methods stand in a weak bargaining position relative to those using formal search methods which is consistent with limited choices hypothesis. Additionally, the migrant workers in the manufacturing and construction industries or producing and processing occupations extract surplus nearly identical to other groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuhong Du & Hazrul Shahiri, 2024. "Wage Bargaining Power of Internal Migrant Workers: Evidence from Urban Labor Market in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:14:y:2024:i:2:p:21582440241259934
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440241259934
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440241259934
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440241259934?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. Brenzel, Hanna & Gartner, Hermann & Schnabel, Claus, 2014. "Wage bargaining or wage posting? Evidence from the employers' side," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 41-48.
    2. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    3. Marta Lachowska & Alexandre Mas & Raffaele Saggio & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2022. "Wage Posting or Wage Bargaining? A Test Using Dual Jobholders," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(S1), pages 469-493.
    4. Meng, Xin & Shen, Kailing & Xue, Sen, 2013. "Economic reform, education expansion, and earnings inequality for urban males in China, 1988–2009," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 227-244.
    5. Knight, John & Deng, Quheng & Li, Shi, 2011. "The puzzle of migrant labour shortage and rural labour surplus in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 585-600.
    6. Zhu, Rong, 2016. "Wage differentials between urban residents and rural migrants in urban China during 2002–2007: A distributional analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 2-14.
    7. Wang, Chunchao & Zhang, Chenglei & Ni, Jinlan, 2015. "Social network, intra-network education spillover effect and rural–urban migrants' wages: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 156-168.
    8. Yu Wang, 2016. "The Effect of Bargaining on US Economic Aid," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 479-502, May.
    9. Antoninis, Manos, 2006. "The wage effects from the use of personal contacts as hiring channels," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 133-146, January.
    10. Messinis, George, 2013. "Returns to education and urban-migrant wage differentials in China: IV quantile treatment effects," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 39-55.
    11. Subal Kumbhakar & Christopher Parmeter, 2009. "The effects of match uncertainty and bargaining on labor market outcomes: evidence from firm and worker specific estimates," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Polachek, Solomon W & Yoon, Bong Joon, 1987. "A Two-tiered Earnings Frontier Estimation of Employer and Employee Information in the Labor Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(2), pages 296-302, May.
    13. Sonila Tomini & Wim Groot & Milena Pavlova, 2012. "Paying informally in the Albanian health care sector: a two-tiered stochastic frontier model," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(6), pages 777-788, December.
    14. Zhang, Huafeng, 2010. "The Hukou system's constraints on migrant workers' job mobility in Chinese cities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 51-64, March.
    15. Katrien Stevens & Stephen Whelan, 2019. "Negotiating the Gender Wage Gap," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 141-188, April.
    16. Fang, Tony & Gunderson, Morley & Lin, Carl, 2016. "The use and impact of job search procedures by migrant workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 154-165.
    17. repec:wyi:journl:002165 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Gao, Qin & Yang, Sui & Li, Shi, 2012. "Labor contracts and social insurance participation among migrant workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1195-1205.
    19. Lee, Leng, 2012. "Decomposing wage differentials between migrant workers and urban workers in urban China's labor markets," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 461-470.
    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. 岩﨑, 一郎 & Iwasaki, Ichiro & 馬, 欣欣 & Ma, Xin Xin, 2019. "現代中国における男女賃金格差: メタ分析による接近," Discussion Paper Series 689, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. Alecos Papadopoulos & Christopher F. Parmeter & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2021. "Modeling dependence in two-tier stochastic frontier models," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 85-101, December.
    3. Ichiro Iwasaki & Xinxin Ma, 2020. "Gender wage gap in China: a large meta-analysis," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Ma, Xinxin, 2020. "Gender Wage Gap in China: A Large Meta-Analysis," CEI Research Paper Series 2020-5, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    5. Christopher F. Parmeter, 2018. "Estimation of the two-tiered stochastic frontier model with the scaling property," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 37-47, February.
    6. Yuanyuan Chen & Le Wang & Min Zhang, 2018. "Informal search, bad search?: the effects of job search method on wages among rural migrants in urban China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 837-876, July.
    7. Thomas Vendryes & Jiaqi Zhan, 2023. "Hukou-Based Discrimination, Dialects and City Characteristics," Working Papers hal-04247417, HAL.
    8. Chen, Yuanyuan & Wang, Le & Zhang, Min, 2017. "Informal Search, Bad Search? The Effects of Job Search Method on Wages among Rural Migrants in Urban China," IZA Discussion Papers 11058, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Alecos Papadopoulos, 2015. "The half-normal specification for the two-tier stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 225-230, April.
    10. Zhang, Li & Sharpe, Rhonda Vonshay & Li, Shi & Darity, William A., 2016. "Wage differentials between urban and rural-urban migrant workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 222-233.
    11. German Blanco, 2017. "Who benefits from job placement services? A two-sided analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 33-47, February.
    12. Yao, Yao & Chen, George S. & Salim, Ruhul & Yu, Xiaojun, 2018. "Schooling returns for migrant workers in China: Estimations from the perspective of the institutional environment in a rural setting," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 240-256.
    13. Solomon W. Polachek, 2017. "Heterogeneity in the Labor Market: Ability and Information Acquisition," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(3), pages 377-390, June.
    14. Zhang, Qilin & Liu, Xiaoying & Jiao, Jingjuan, 2025. "Where to migrate? The role of high-speed rail in migrant workers’ employment location decision in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 65-86.
    15. Song, Yang, 2014. "What should economists know about the current Chinese hukou system?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 200-212.
    16. Ma, Xinxin, 2018. "Labor market segmentation by industry sectors and wage gaps between migrants and local urban residents in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-115.
    17. Ha, Wei & Yi, Junjian & Yuan, Ye & Zhang, Junsen, 2016. "The dynamic effect of rural-to-urban migration on inequality in source villages: System GMM estimates from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 27-39.
    18. Bayari, Celal, 2018. "Economy and Market in China: The State, Wage Labour and the Construction of the ‘China Price’," MPRA Paper 100900, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Mar 2018.
    19. Subal C. Kumbhakar & Christopher F. Parmeter & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2022. "Stochastic Frontier Analysis: Foundations and Advances I," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 8, pages 331-370, Springer.
    20. Yuanyuan Chen & Zichen Deng, 2019. "Liquidity Constraint Shock, Job Search and Post Match Quality—Evidence from Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 332-355, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:sagope:v:14:y:2024:i:2:p:21582440241259934. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.