Chinese employer associations, institutional complementarity and countervailing power

Abstract

Prior to 2011 the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) was the only employer association recognized by China's government. Drawing on interviews with staff from employer associations, employers and state officials, this study clarifies the role of Chinese employer associations, with the focus being on the CEC. The study finds that the Confederation is a quasi-state agency that undertakes many of the activities conducted by employer associations in developed economies. It also finds that the demise of the CEC's monopolization of employer representation can be attributed to its inability to act as an agent of countervailing power and its inability to sustain a complementary relationship with the social partners that are suited to the newly emergent employment relationship being constructed in China.

Employer organisations transformed

“…Finally, the importance of service provision has been noted outside more developed economies. For example, Zhu and Nyland () argued that the Chinese Employers Confederation was able to recruit members in part due to its provision of HRM consultancy.…”

“…Finally, EOs have recently evolved in their role as service provider, moving beyond those related to collective bargaining to include others such as training, legal services, and HRM advice. These latter services offer continuing incentives for individual employers to associate with EOs (Sheldon et al, ; Zhu & Nyland, ). However, other studies have identified alternative strategies such as generating new collective goods in the form of promoting regional development (Sheldon, Della Torre, & Nacamulli, ).…”

The evolution of employers' organisations in the United Kingdom: Extending countervailing power

“…Countervailing power is a well‐established concept in ER (Barry & Wilkinson, ; Plowman, ; Zhu & Nyland, ) and has been used to describe how employers founded EOs to counter and supress unions (Derber, ). When such attempts failed, employers offered unions a quid‐pro‐quo to limit their influence.…”

“…Countervailing power is a well-established concept in ER (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011;Plowman, 1989;Zhu & Nyland, 2017) and has been used to describe how employers founded EOs to counter and supress unions (Derber, 1984).…”

“…In explaining the changes in employer organisation and activity, our argument builds on previous countervailing power arguments (Barry & Wilkinson, ; Galbraith, ; Zhu & Nyland, ) and extends them beyond unions to include new pressures by the state and civil society organisations (CSOs), including non‐governmental organisations and identity groups. Countering unions was the initial focus for EOs, but when union power waned, new and additional pressures on employers emerged.…”