Ingrid Nielsen

Which rural migrants receive social insurance in Chinese cities? Evidence from Jiangsu survey data

This article draws on a survey of internal migrant workers in China’s Jiangsu province to shed light on the characteristics of migrant workers who receive social insurance and explain why some migrants take up social insurance while others do not. Of the factors which potentially explain which migrants receive social insurance, gender, past earnings, ties to the city to which the migrant had moved, the ownership type of the enterprise in which the migrant works and residential registration status are all found to be statistically significant predictors. The article concludes with the suggestion that the high level of scepticism with respect to social protection that has been reported as being manifest among migrants is justified. There is little likelihood the majority of migrant workers who have moved to China’s towns and cities will be able to access the social insurance benefits traditionally available to those with urban registration.

Migration and Social Protection in China

China has an estimated 120-150 million internal migrants from the countryside living in its cities. These people are the engine that has been driving China’s high rate of economic growth. However, until recently, little or no attention has been given to the establishment of a social protection regime for migrant workers. This volume examines the key issues involved in establishing social protection for them, including a critical examination of deficiencies in existing arrangements and an in-depth study of proposals that have been offered for extending social security coverage. Featuring contributions from leading academics outside China who have written on the topic as well as experts from leading Chinese academic institutions such as Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Development Research Center in the State Council, this volume provides a comprehensive account from both inside and outside China.

The impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility practices on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: evidence from the Chinese private sector

This paper examines the impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on their job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Hierarchical regression analysis on two-wave data from 184 supervisor/subordinate dyads from three organizations located in Zhejiang Province, South-East China, revealed that employee perceptions of CSR toward social and non-social stakeholders strongly influenced their OCB. However, employee perceptions of CSR toward employees, customers and government influenced neither their job performance nor OCB.

‘I’ve been to Bali too’ (and I will be going back): are terrorist shocks to Bali's tourist arrivals permanent or transitory?

International visitor arrivals to Bali are examined using univariate and panel Lagrange multiplier (LM) unit root tests with one and two structural breaks to ascertain if shocks to the time path of tourist arrivals are permanent or transitory. The univariate LM unit root tests with one and two structural breaks fail to reject the null hypothesis of a unit root in international visitor arrivals to Bali. However, the panel LM unit root tests with one and two structural breaks applied to a panel of Balis 11 major source markets reject the null and support the alternative hypothesis of a joint trend-stationary series with transitory shocks. This result suggests that, the effects of the recent terrorist acts on Bali on the growth path of tourist arrivals from major markets are only transitory and that as a consequence Balis tourism sector is sustainable in the long run.

Psychometric data on the mathematics self-efficacy scale

Descriptive measurement reliability and validity data are reported on scores from the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) in two contexts—class and test—for a sample of 302 Australian high school students. Summated scores on the MSES correlated r = .74, and together these items yielded one component that explained 49% of the variance. MSES scores demonstrated internal reliability for both class and test (Cronbach alphas = .86 and .90). Statistically significant correlations between MSES scores, past mathematics grades, and Marsh’s Self-Description Questionnaire III (Math) were used to indicate the convergent validity of scores for the MSES. Discriminant validity of the MSES scores was suggested by the lack of significant correlations between the MSES measures and students’ desired English grades. Statistically significant correlations between MSES scores and students’ desired mathematics grades indicated concurrent validity of the MSES measures. A statistically significant difference between class and test scores supported Bandura’s prescription for context specificity in efficacy research.

The moderating effects of demographic factors and hukou status on the job satisfaction–subjective well-being relationship in urban China

This study tests the moderating effect of job complexity and social status, proxied by a unique Chinese cultural variable (hukou status), on the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective well-being in urban China. Data on these and a range of demographic variables were collected from 1025 workers in Fujian Province in the Peoples Republic of China. Results confirm that hukou status does moderate the job satisfaction–subjective well-being relationship in this sample. Several further moderating relationships are also detected. The study adds the empirical literature on job satisfaction and subjective well-being in China and also furthers understanding of the complex relationship between these constructs.

DETERMINANTS OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AMONG MIGRANT CHILDREN: SURVEY EVIDENCE FROM CHINA'S JIANGSU PROVINCE*

Across the developing world education is seen as a means of raising levels of everyday wellbeing and is being linked to improved measures of productivity and economic growth. This paper employs a household production function framework to examine the determinants of school attendance among migrant children using a unique dataset collected in Chinas Jiangsu province. The study finds that the main predictors of school attendance among migrant children in the sample were household income, mothers education, the length of residence of the childs mother in the city and whether both parents were working in the same city.

Firm Compliance With Social Insurance Obligations Where There Is A Weak Surveillance And Enforcement Mechanism: Empirical Evidence From Shanghai

This paper draws on a unique data set collected in audits in 2001 and 2002 by the Bureau of Labour and Social Security in Shanghai to examine why firms in Shanghai comply or over-comply with social insurance obligations in a regulatory environment where the expected punishment for non-compliance is low. Drawing on Harrington (1988), we test two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that based on the first audit, the BOLSS will segment firms into low (non-aggressive) and high (aggressive) categories and those in the high category will be more likely to be re-audited. The second hypothesis is that if the identified non-complier is re-audited, it will be more likely to comply with its social insurance obligations in order to be returned from the high (aggressive) category into the low (non aggressive) category. Our first main finding is that firms found to be in non-compliance in the first audit in 2001 were moved into a separate violation category and the probability of being reaudited in 2002 was significantly higher if the firm was in that category. Our second main result is that across the board, firms which were reaudited continued to underpay in 2002 but the extent of underpayment was significantly reduced.

Working Hours in Supply Chain Chinese and Thai Factories: Evidence from the Fair Labor Association's ‘Soccer Project’

This paper examines the determinants of working excessive hours, defined as working in excess of 60 hours per week or for more than six consecutive days, in Chinese and Thai supply-chain factories. We use a matched employer-employee dataset collected from 15 Chinese and Thai footwear and sporting apparel supply-chain factories, which supply international brands. Matched employer-employee data allows us to examine the effect of worker and firm characteristics on hours worked. We find that in addition to the demographic and human capital characteristics of workers, firm-level characteristics and worker awareness of how to refuse overtime are important factors in explaining variation in hours worked.

Unemployment Within China's Floating Population: Empirical Evidence from Jiangsu Survey Data

Ingrid Nielsen, Department of Management, Monash University; Russell Smyth, Department of Economics, Monash University; and Mingqiong Zhang, Committee of Development and Reform, Jiangsu Provincial Government, China. This project was supported by a grant from the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements. The authors thank Xin Deng and Joanna Nikopoulos for research assistance. INGRID NIELSEN, RUSSELL SMYTH, AND MINGQIONG ZHANG