加强劳动保护提高了劳动收入份额吗?——基于《劳动合同法》实施的经验研究

Does Enhanced Employment Protection Increased Labor Share?——Evidence from the Labor Contract Law Enactment in China

本文运用双重差分法考察劳动保护加强如何影响企业劳动收入份额。实证结果表明,《劳动合同法》出台之后,与生产型劳动力占比较低的企业相比,生产型劳动力占比高的企业劳动收入份额提升更多,且该效应在法律制度环境较好、劳动力流动水平较高的地区及融资约束较弱的企业中相对更强。机制研究发现:其一,加强劳动保护推动企业用机器设备替代生产型劳动力,提高了企业技术和研发型劳动力的相对雇佣比;其二,加强劳动保护降低了企业劳动力流动性,从而抑制了企业营业收入。本文对完善劳动力市场法律制度以兼顾效率和公平具有启示意义。

We investigate how firms' labor share responds to the enhanced employment protection which is exogenously induced by the Labor Contract Law enactment in China 2008.We find that this legal reform led to a significant increase in firms' labor share,and these effects are more pronounced in regions with a better legal institutional environment,higher levels of labor mobility,and enterprises with weaker financing constraints.Moreover,we find two mechanisms through which the law impacts labor share.First,employment protection raises labor income compensation by increasing the relative employment ratio of skilled and R&D-oriented labor.Second,employment protection reduces labor flexibility,which in turn decreases business revenue.