Global Economy and Gender Inequalities

The Case of the Urban Chinese Labor Market

Bibliographic Data

ID10763522
AuthorsX Shu (0000-0001-8696-326X, University of California, Davis), Yifei Zhu (0000-0001-8918-1896, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Zhan‐Xin Zhang (0000-0002-7892-9851, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Year2007
Volume88
Issue5
Pages1307-1332
Publication date2007-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-4941 • E-ISSN: 1540-6237
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-6237.2007.00504.x
OpenAlexW2047562218
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited36

Objectives. This article examines the effects of economic globalization on gender inequalities in urban China. It argues that the significance of economic globalization on gender inequality depends on its impact on job queues in the labor market of a country. Methods. Using both individual‐ and city‐level data, and a series of multilevel linear and logistic models, we analyze the effects of three city‐level variables on the gender gap in income: foreign direct investment (FDI) per capita, growth rate of FDI, and opening up to overseas investment early on. We also examine gender differences in employment in high‐paying foreign‐invested firms, and in lower‐paying export‐oriented manufacturing. Results. We find no variation in gender gap in income among cities of varying levels of FDI, growth rates of FDI, or whether they were among the earliest to open up to international investment. Women are more likely to be employed in export‐oriented manufacturing industries that offer lower wages and are less likely to work in high‐paying foreign firms and joint ventures. Conclusions. These results suggest that economic globalization profoundly influences gender inequalities by changing the nature of job queues, and men and women are sorted and matched into jobs accordingly. Economic globalization contributed to and perpetuated a gendered distribution of male and female workers in the Chinese urban labor market in the late 1990s

China · Demographic economics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economic inequality · Economics · Foreign direct investment · Globalization · Inequality · Investment (military) · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Per capita · Per capita income · Political science · Population · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Migration and Labor Dynamics

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