Chinesische Beschäftigungspolitik zwischen Stabilitäts- und Effizienzzielen

Abstract

Transformation countries generally have to cope with the burden of heavy structural adjustments. The adjustment of distorted prices and production structures usually requires not only significant changes in the employment structure but also steep increases in the overall unemployment rate, which is tantamount to a significant deterioration of the social and economic situation of many citizens. Obviously employment policy has a crucial function during transformation processes. On the one hand it should reduce social burdens and increase both social and political stability, on the other hand it should by no means hinder the enhancement of economic efficiency. In a word, successful employment policy should simultaneously guarantee social stability and improve economic efficiency. It is well known that the adjustment of state owned enterprises in China resulted in a very poor performance up to now, especially with regard to its huge amount of surplus labour. This article seeks to analyse in which way the Chinese employment policy of the reform era was influenced by the above mentioned trade-off and may have hindered successful restructuring. It will be shown that there has been a strong over-emphasis on social functions at the expense of efficiency since 1978. But in recent years there is some evidence that the economic function of employment policy has gained significance.