The Internal Labor Market and the Transformation of Labor Relations in China:Based on Survey Data and Fieldwork on Migrant Workers in the Pearl River Delta

内部劳动力市场与中国劳动关系转型——基于珠三角地区农民工的调查数据和田野资料

Our survey data on migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta region from 2006 to 2010 and recent fieldwork show that the enactment of the Labor Contract Law encouraged both the signing of labor contracts and the long-term nature of these contracts, making enterprises more willing to increase investment in human capital, increase employee insurance and welfare and give more attention to human-centered management, leading eventually to the establishment of an internal labor market that incorporates migrant workers. This is accompanied by progress in human resources management techniques and strategies in SMEs and private enterprise. Although the Labor Contract Law to some extent intensified the tendency for migrant workers to undertake collective protection of their rights, the establishment of an internal labor market could also ease the tension between labor and capital and lead to employees becoming more rational and prudent in safeguarding their rights, thereby providing a basis for a transition from confrontation to win-win cooperation between labor and capital. The Labor Contract Law has accelerated and strengthened the trend of individualized development in China’s labor relations. The protection of labor rights through the two channels of the 'rigid' legal system and 'flexible' internal management can help reduce the risk of large-scale collective labor disputes and establish a relatively harmonious institutionalized labor relationship.

基于2006—2010年珠三角地区农民工问卷调查数据和近年的田野调查资料,发现《劳动合同法》的颁布促进了劳动合同的签订和合同期限的长期化,使得企业愿意加大人力资本投资,增加员工保险和福利投入,更加注重人性化管理,最终建立起一套将农民工纳入其中的内部劳动力市场制度;与此同时,中小企业和私营企业人力资源管理技术和策略也得到不断发展。虽然《劳动合同法》在一定程度上提高了农民工集体维权倾向,但内部劳动力市场的建立又可以缓解劳资之间的紧张,员工维权更加理性、审慎,为劳资之间从对抗迈向合作共赢提供了基础。《劳动合同法》加快并强化了中国劳动关系的“个体化”发展趋势。从“刚性”的法律制度和“柔性”的内部管理两个渠道保护劳工权益,有助降低大规模集体性劳资纠纷发生的风险,建立相对和谐的制度化的劳动关系。