Gallagher, MaryGiles, JohnPark, AlbertWang, Meiyan2013-09-272013-09-272013-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15902This paper presents empirical evidence from household and firm survey data collected during 2009-2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law and its effects on China's workers. The government and local labor bureaus have made substantial efforts to enforce the provisions of the new law, which has likely contributed to reversing a trend toward increasing informalization of the urban labor market. Enforcement of the law, however, varies substantially across cities. The paper analyzes the determinants of worker satisfaction with the enforcement of the law, the propensity of workers to have a labor contract, workers' awareness of the content of the law, and their likelihood of initiating disputes. The paper finds that all of these factors are highly correlated with the level of education, especially for migrants. Although higher labor costs may have had a negative impact on manufacturing employment growth, this has not led to an overall increase in aggregate unemployment or prevented the rapid growth of real wages. Less progress has been made in increasing social insurance coverage, although signing a labor contract is more likely to be associated with participation in social insurance programs than in the past, particularly for migrant workers.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGE GROUPAGE GROUPSAGGREGATE EMPLOYMENTAGGREGATE UNEMPLOYMENTCOLLEGE EDUCATIONCOLLEGE GRADUATECOLLEGE GRADUATESCROSS-SECTIONAL DATADEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISCUSSIONSDISMISSALDOMESTIC WORKERSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC THEORYECONOMIES IN TRANSITIONEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT FORMEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT IMPACTEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT OUTLOOKEMPLOYMENT PROTECTION LEGISLATIONEMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPEMPLOYMENT SECURITYEMPLOYMENT SITUATIONEXCESSIVE REGULATIONFIRING COSTSFIRM PERFORMANCEFIRM SIZEFIRM SURVEYFIRM SURVEYSHEALTH INSURANCEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSINGHUMAN RESOURCESHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTINDUSTRIAL LABORINFORMAL EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL SECTORJOB CREATIONJOB SECURITYJOB VACANCYJOBSLABOR BUREAULABOR BUREAUSLABOR CONTRACTLABOR CONTRACTSLABOR COSTSLABOR DEMANDLABOR DISPUTESLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR INSPECTIONLABOR LAWLABOR LAWSLABOR LEGISLATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONSLABOR MARKETSLABOR POLICIESLABOR REGULATIONLABOR REGULATIONSLABORERSLARGE CITIESLAYOFFSLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOW UNEMPLOYMENTMANDATESMIGRANT WORKERSMIGRATIONMUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTSOLDER WORKERSPENALTIESPENSIONSPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIVATE ENTERPRISESPRIVATE FIRMSPRIVATE SECTORPUBLIC SERVICESREAL WAGESRECOMMENDATIONSRURAL WORKERSSAFETYSERVICE SECTORSERVICE SECTORSSEVERANCE PAYSEVERANCE PAYMENTSSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESSESSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SECURITYSTATE ENTERPRISESSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESSTATISTICAL ANALYSISTEMPORARY WORKTEMPORARY WORKERSTOTAL EMPLOYMENTTRADE UNIONSUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEMUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESURBAN EMPLOYMENTURBAN WORKERSURBANIZATIONWAGE EMPLOYMENTWAGE INCREASESWAGE LEVELSWORK IN PROGRESSWORKERWORKER PARTICIPATIONWORKERSWORKINGWORKING CONDITIONSWORKING TIMEWORKPLACEYOUNGER WORKERSWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6542