What Do Unions in China Do? Provincial-Level Evidence on Wages, Employment, Productivity, and Economic Output

This study investigates the effect of labour unions on productivity across various types of firm ownership in China. Using a panel dataset of Chinese manufacturing firms covering 2004–2007 and employing propensity score matching techniques, we find that unions have a negative impact on labour productivity and total factor productivity. From a dynamic viewpoint, unionisation has an initially positive or nonsignificant association with productivity, but then has a significant negative effect in subsequent years for both foreign‐owned enterprises and private firms. A strong and negative productivity effect is consistently observed for state‐owned enterprises.

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“…As argued by Budd et al . (), further research on this subject with differentiation by the type of organisation is required.…”

Section: Ols Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour Unions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China

Yang

Tsou

2018

The Manchester School

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“…In China, most empirical studies focus on the Chinese union effect with respect to economic outcomes like wages, benefits, employment, and productivity (Budd et al. ; Yao and Zhong ), while ignoring employee well‐being and work‐related outcomes.…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies in western and other settings of the unionorganisational commitment relationship reveal mixed results (Hammer and Avgar 2005). In China, most empirical studies focus on the Chinese union effect with respect to economic outcomes like wages, benefits, employment, and productivity (Budd et al 2014;Yao and Zhong 2013), while ignoring employee well-being and work-related outcomes.…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards better work in China: mapping the relationships between high‐performance work systems, trade unions, and employee well‐being

Yang

Nawakitphaitoon

Huang

et al. 2018

Asia Pac J Human Res

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Human resource management (HRM) is a major mechanism to realise decent work and achieve employee well‐being in China. Key questions concern how and when HRM is mutually beneficial for employers and employees, particularly how well HRM works with trade unions in achieving decent work. This study examines the effect of high‐performance work systems and trade unions on employee engagement, paying particular attention to the role of industrial relations (IR) climate in facilitating this relationship. Hypotheses were tested via unique cross‐sectional survey data from a large employer–employee matched dataset collected from 264 manufacturing firms and 6921 workers in China. The findings highlight that HPWS are a key mechanism for realising decent work. We also find positive evidence for the mutual gains of decent work illustrating the combined impact of HPWS and trade unions in achieving higher levels of employee engagement. Notably, a co‐operative (as opposed to adversarial) IR climate is seen to reinforce this relationship, indicating the significance of the quality of relationships among management, employees, and unions in shaping employee outcomes. Overall, these findings advance understanding of the realisation of decent work and ‘mutual gains’ in a Chinese context.

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“…As one study concludes: ‘… future research efforts should use microdata and case studies to better uncover the specific mechanisms that underlie the relationship between unions and wages, employment, and productivity in China’ (Budd et al . : 203–4). The purpose of this article is to provide fine‐grained evidence on developments in union representation in foreign‐invested enterprises.…”

Section: Background and Prior Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Developing Role of Unions in China's Foreign‐Invested Enterprises

Chan

Snape

Luo

et al. 2016

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This article evaluates the development of Chinese enterprise unions, drawing on case-study evidence from foreign-invested enterprises in the Pearl River Delta. Findings suggest that it was difficult for such employers to resist the establishment of an enterprise union. However, they generally sought to co-opt the union to meet organizational needs. Management strategy was critical in shaping the union's role, and our evidence suggests that this was influenced by factors such as home-country policies, the expectations of overseas customers, management ideology and pressures from the ACFTU and the Party-State to comply with the requirement for a union. The implications for the role of unions are evaluated.

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What Do Unions in China Do? Provincial-Level Evidence on Wages, Employment, Productivity, and Economic Output

Cited by 41 publications

References 16 publications

Labour Unions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China

Labour Unions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China

Towards better work in China: mapping the relationships between high‐performance work systems, trade unions, and employee well‐being

The Developing Role of Unions in China's Foreign‐Invested Enterprises

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