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Training, productivity and wages: An investigation of China's manufacturing enterprises in a privatization era

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  • Qifan Huang
  • Castiel Chen Zhuang

Abstract

We estimated a structural model of production and wage determination in which labour quality can be affected by a firm's training decision using data of China's manufacturing enterprises in an era of privatization (2004–2007). Training increased both productivity and wages, but the former increased more, which explained the voluntary provision of on‐the‐job training. Our results also indicate that state‐controlled enterprises' investment in training could be both privately and socially efficient; unions played a role in promoting training; it might be more privately and socially efficient for manufacturing firms to prioritize training resources to lower‐educated, female and junior workers, if they had not done so, during privatization.

Suggested Citation

  • Qifan Huang & Castiel Chen Zhuang, 2022. "Training, productivity and wages: An investigation of China's manufacturing enterprises in a privatization era," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 269-288, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ectrin:v:30:y:2022:i:2:p:269-288
    DOI: 10.1111/ecot.12285
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