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Long Run Trends in Unemployment and Labor Force Participation in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shuaizhang Feng
  • Yingyao Hu
  • Robert Moffitt

Abstract

Unemployment rates in countries across the world are typically positively correlated with GDP. China is an unusual outlier from the pattern, with abnormally low, and suspiciously stable, unemployment rates according to its official statistics. This paper calculates, for the first time, China’s unemployment rate from 1988 to 2009 using a more reliable, nationally representative household survey in China. The unemployment rates the paper calculates differ dramatically from those supplied in official data and are much more consistent with what is known about China’s labor market and how it has changed over time in response to structural changes and other significant events.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuaizhang Feng & Yingyao Hu & Robert Moffitt, 2015. "Long Run Trends in Unemployment and Labor Force Participation in China," Working Papers id:7279, eSocialSciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:7279
    Note: Institutional Papers
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sangui Wang & Yu Wang & Fengfeng Gu & Danyan Lu, 2015. "Living Wage Benchmark Report: Urban China, Shenzhen (August 2015)," Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) 15-01-06, Universidad Privada Boliviana.
    2. Jie Chen & Mingzhi Hu, 2019. "What types of homeowners are more likely to be entrepreneurs? The evidence from China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 633-649, March.
    3. Chong-En Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Zheng (Michael) Song, 2016. "The Long Shadow of China’s Fiscal Expansion," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(2 (Fall)), pages 129-181.
    4. Ting Wang & Areendam Chanda, 2016. "Manufacturing Growth and Local Multipliers in China," Departmental Working Papers 2016-02, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    5. Fu, Shihe & Liao, Yu & Zhang, Junfu, 2016. "The effect of housing wealth on labor force participation: Evidence from China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-69.
    6. Wang, Ting & Chanda, Areendam, 2018. "Manufacturing growth and local employment multipliers in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 515-543.
    7. Haiyan Ding & Hui He, 2018. "A Tale of Transition: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in Urban China, 1986-2009," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 106-137, July.
    8. Chong-En Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Zheng Michael Song, 2016. "The Long Shadow of a Fiscal Expansion," NBER Working Papers 22801, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Xiao, Saizi & Yeoh, Emile, 2018. "Subjective well-being in China, 2005–2010: The role of relative income, gender, and location," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 83-101.
    10. Stanislav Edward Shmelev, 2025. "Comparative Multidimensional Assessment of Progress Towards Sustainability at the Macro Scale: The Cases of 12 OECD Countries, China, and Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-30, August.
    11. Ding Lu, 2017. "China's Growth Slowdown and Prospects for Becoming a High-Income Developed Economy," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 89-113, Winter/Sp.
    12. Iyer, Lakshmi & Meng, Xin & Qian, Nancy & Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2019. "Economic transition and private-sector labor: Evidence from urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 579-600.
    13. Chong-En Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Zheng (Michael) Song, 2016. "The Long Shadow of China’s Fiscal Expansion," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(2 (Fall)), pages 129-181.
    14. You, Jing & Yi, Xuejie & Chen, Meng, 2016. "Love, Life, and “Leftover Ladies” in Urban China," MPRA Paper 70494, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Chen, Xi & Ge, Suqin, 2018. "Social norms and female labor force participation in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 966-987.
    16. Gary Jefferson, 2016. "China's New Lost Generation: The Casualty of China's Economic Transformation," Working Papers 107, Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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