What determines pension insurance participation in China? Triangulation and the intertwined relationship among employers, employees and the government

Abstract

Abstract:The current study draws on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to examine what determines employees' pension participation in China. For the purpose of exploring which employees actually receive pension coverage and why, econometric analysis was conducted with China's Employer-Employee Matched Survey data (N=3412). A variety of both individual factors, ranging from age and Hukou status to job characteristics, and macro factors, including interprovincial migration and level of economic development, are all found to predict insurance coverage. Qualitative research results contextualize these findings by discussing the often ambivalent and triangulated relations among employers, employees and government. These three groups primarily use shared core policy beliefs to structure their interactions in the form of advocacy coalitions. Various types of cross-coalition interaction, including negotiation, cooperation and conflict, are examined. These findings carry both theoretical and policy implications.

Social Protection for the Informal Sector in Urban China: Institutional Constraints and Self-selection Behaviour

“…The decision of employers in the informal sector about whether or not to contribute to the social insurance account of their employees can have an impact on the enrolment status of the latter (Guo et al , 2016). Although employers in the informal sector can opt not to contribute to their employees’ accounts in pension or health insurance plans, employees can always register for urban resident plans for pension and health insurance, for which a contribution from employers is unnecessary.…”

“…Since the mid-1980s, the Chinese government has initiated various types of social insurance to settle the social unrest of millions of laid-off urban workers and facilitate the reform of state-owned enterprises (Wong and Ngok, 2006; Hu, 2015). However, the social protection for the labour force of the urban informal sector generally lags significantly behind in China (Kumar and Li, 2007; Rickne, 2013; Guo et al , 2016). Following the literature, the current study defines the informal sector labour force as working people who are either outside the formal sector enterprises (e.g.…”

Employers' perceptions of the Labour Contract Law: regulatory responses in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector in China

“…Chung (2015) has succinctly emphasised that, when the interests of local government, labour intermediaries and employees are convergent, compliance is greater. Similarly, when writing about the "Employer-Employee-Government relationship" in China, Guo et al (2016Guo et al ( : 2157) emphasise that: "The government should examine its policy enforcement tools and their effects, adjusting, where possible, relevant regulations to better accommodate the needs and capacities of enterprises". We trust that this study has helped to create a better understanding of SME owners' and HR managers' perceptions of the LCL and that these insights will help policymakers and local governments to consider how to ease prevailing dissatisfaction and concerns among SME owners, in order to offset the potentially adverse impacts of the LCL.…”

An analysis of quality liability insurance for prefabricated components using evolutionary game theory

“…The government needs to formulate a sustainable policy for the development of insurance products and improve the market condition for insurance development (Cai et al 2016). The social acceptance and earnings of the insurance should be popularized and continually improved, as well as maintaining its market vitality (Guo et al 2016;Jiang 2013). By this means, the market vitality of the new type of insurance, QLIPC, can be maintained, and the enthusiasm of insurance companies can be motivated accordingly.…”