Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China

This paper provides a critical account of the various roles that labour-law regulation has played in China’s transition to a market-oriented economy. The analysis aims to contribute new insights to an ongoing debate on the relationship between economic development and legal rules and institutions in...

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Main Author: Zou, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2019
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author Zou, M
author_facet Zou, M
author_sort Zou, M
collection OXFORD
description This paper provides a critical account of the various roles that labour-law regulation has played in China’s transition to a market-oriented economy. The analysis aims to contribute new insights to an ongoing debate on the relationship between economic development and legal rules and institutions in China. Discussions of social and labour rights have been on the periphery of a debate that has focused on property and contract rights (the so-called “Rights Hypothesis”). While numerous scholars have sought to debunk the explanatory power of the “Rights Hypothesis” in the case of China, I put forward an alternative “Social Rights Hypothesis.” My proposed hypothesis seeks to explain how labour-law rules and institutions have co-evolved with the emergence of a labour market in China’s economic development. Specifically, labour law has played not only a market-constituting role, but also market-corrective and market-limiting functions.
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spelling oxford-uuid:2e256826-dbbe-46a9-b677-20ca99997dab2022-03-26T12:47:13ZEconomic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in ChinaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2e256826-dbbe-46a9-b677-20ca99997dabEnglishSymplectic ElementsCambridge University Press2019Zou, MThis paper provides a critical account of the various roles that labour-law regulation has played in China’s transition to a market-oriented economy. The analysis aims to contribute new insights to an ongoing debate on the relationship between economic development and legal rules and institutions in China. Discussions of social and labour rights have been on the periphery of a debate that has focused on property and contract rights (the so-called “Rights Hypothesis”). While numerous scholars have sought to debunk the explanatory power of the “Rights Hypothesis” in the case of China, I put forward an alternative “Social Rights Hypothesis.” My proposed hypothesis seeks to explain how labour-law rules and institutions have co-evolved with the emergence of a labour market in China’s economic development. Specifically, labour law has played not only a market-constituting role, but also market-corrective and market-limiting functions.
spellingShingle Zou, M
Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title_full Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title_fullStr Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title_full_unstemmed Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title_short Economic development and the “social rights hypothesis”: regulating labour standards in China
title_sort economic development and the social rights hypothesis regulating labour standards in china
work_keys_str_mv AT zoum economicdevelopmentandthesocialrightshypothesisregulatinglabourstandardsinchina