Do Chinese Employers Discriminate Against Females When Hiring Employees?

To determine if Chinese employers discriminated when hiring females in 1996 and 2005, we applied the statistical approach of Johnson (1983) and Mohanty (1998) to the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) questionnaire (1997 data and pooled data of 2004 and 2006). Empirical results of the 1996 sample reveal that male workers generally received less favorable treatment and, consequently, enjoyed a lower average employment probability than female workers. However, approximately a decade after the enactment of the labor law, the 2005 sample shows that male workers were generally preferentially treated relative to female workers with otherwise identical laboring characteristics. Our empirical results suggest that an increase in the educational level of females, in the employment probability of females aged 25 and younger, and in the employment chances of females working in the government sector may prove effective in eliminating employment discrimination by gender.