China’s Rising Labor Remuneration and Evolving National Savings Rate

Cash flow statements suggest that China’s rising labor remuneration has had a major impact on its national savings rate since 2008.Accordingly,this paper proposes labor remuneration hypotheses to explain the evolving trend of China’s national savings rate.We hypothesize that:(1)The certainty and predictability of household labor remuneration have led to excess sensitivity to consumption,with a corresponding decrease in the household savings rate;(2)rising household labor remuneration means a greater share of labor remuneration is paid by firms,resulting in a smaller corporate savings rate;(3)the increase in the payment of labor remuneration by firms as a share of national disposable income has resulted in the government spending more on social welfare and public services resulting in the government having a declining share of disposable income,less propensity to save,and a falling government savings rate.Using China’s provincial panel data of 2008-2016,we performed an empirical test with the minimum wage standard as the instrumental variable to verify the above hypothesis.To cope with economic growth pressures,China needs to shift from an investment-driven to a consumption-driven growth model and prioritize investment efficiency over quantity.

Experts on Protection of Workers' Right to Remuneration in Accordance With Labor Law

Adozen experts of law gathered on April 1, 2003 to share their views on protection of the workers’ right to remuneration for their work in accordance with the Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China. That took place at a seminar jointly sponsored by the Human Rights and the Beijing-based Democracy and Law magazines and the Branch of Labor and Social Security Laws of the Beijing Society of Law. Participants were from the All-China Federation of Trade Unions,

Digital Infrastructure and Common Prosperity: An Influence Mechanism and Effect Test

Common prosperity is an important goal of China’s modernization efforts,and narrowing the income gap among different regions and populations is crucial to achieving common prosperity.The construction of digital infrastructure has significantly boosted productivity and facilitated the diffusion of technology in less developed regions,leading to notable changes in labor employment and the income gap,which aligns with the goal of common prosperity.This paper explores the mechanism through which digital infrastructure influences common prosperity with a focus on employment,using panel data from 30 provinces in China between 2011 and 2021 for an empirical test.The research finds that digital infrastructure significantly promotes common prosperity.By expanding employment and increasing labor remuneration,the influence of digital infrastructure on common prosperity exhibits regional heterogeneity and a nonlinear threshold effect.The research suggests that the government should enhance investment in and construction of digital infrastructure,reduce the digital divide through policy support in rural areas,promote digital employment and skills training,and encourage industrial integration and enterprise participation.