Inequality in the Initial Wage of College Graduates at the College-Level Perspective

Abstract

College graduates, as a labor force with high human capital accumulation, have the problem of initial wage inequality, which is worth paying attention to. Based on the collated micro-survey data form “Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Report of Chinese College Graduates”, which contains 339 samples from vocational colleges, 453 from common colleges, and 360 from key colleges, this study empirically analyzed the inequality of college graduates’ initial wages at the college level. We found that the initial wage income level of college graduates is significantly influenced by the college level. The higher the level is, the higher the initial wage. The initial wage of graduates from key colleges is the highest, and the income inequality between them and vocational college graduates is the most significant. Moreover, there are structural differences in the wage premium effect of the college level on college graduates with a change in wage level. In addition, the study found that there is an obvious gender wage difference among college graduates, and political status, academic ranking, and student cadre experience as well as the nature of the workplace all contributed to the formation of wage premiums to a certain extent.

Impact of the Transforming and Upgrading of China’s Labor-Intensive Manufacturing Industry on the Labor Market

“…Column (1) shows that the level of transforming and upgrading of labor-intensive manufacturing has a significant effect on the wage, satisfying the first condition. Column (2) shows that the level of transforming and upgrading of laborintensive manufacturing has a significant effect on the level of human capital, satisfying the second condition. Column (3) shows that the level of human capital has a significant effect on the wage.…”

“…Column (1) shows that the level of transforming and upgrading of labor-intensive manufacturing industries has a significant impact on the quantity of employment, which satisfies the first condition in Section 3.4.1. Column (2) shows that the level of transforming and upgrading of labor-intensive manufacturing industries has a significant impact on labor productivity, which satisfies the second condition. Column (3) shows that after the inclusion of labor productivity as a mediating variable, the coefficient of labor-intensive manufacturing transforming and upgrading level for employment quantity decreases from 0.124 to 0.059, which satisfies the last two conditions.…”

“…Considering the data comparability, in order to eliminate the influence of price factors, the average wage was reduced by the CPI index in the 2011 base period. As one of the main objectives of individuals entering the labor market is to earn wage income through employment, wage income is one of the important references reflecting the quality of employment [2]. Due to the limitations of various conditions in empirical studies, scholars tend to measure employment quality by salary level or job security [18,19].…”

“…In the context of the transformation and upgrading of China's labor-intensive manufacturing industry, the question of how to achieve sustainable development in terms of the quantity and quality of employment has become a pressing issue. As one of the main objectives of individuals entering the labor market is to earn wage income through employment, wage income is one of the important references reflecting the quality of employment [2]. Therefore, focusing on China's labor-intensive manufacturing sector, this study explores the impact of the transformation and upgrading of the labor-intensive manufacturing sector on the labor market and its mechanisms, based on the dual perspective of the number of jobs and the level of wages in the labor market, using industry panel data for China over 2011-2019.…”

Optimization method of college students' entrepreneurial path based on improved multi-objective gray wolf algorithm

“…Entrepreneurship, from a global perspective, has become a global proposition and is increasingly favored and recognized by countries around the world [1]. Because under the background of today's increasing development of information technology, entrepreneurial activities can not only promote technological innovation, accelerate the upgrading of industrial structure, and improve labor productivity, but also do it, promote labor employment, and stimulate the creative potential of social members [2]. Therefore, entrepreneurship for an unparalleled economic prosperity [3].…”