중국 동아시아투자기업의 느슨한 제도 환경과 이주노동자의 이직

Abstract

This study concerns the role of institutional and organization factors in labor turnover(LT) of migrant workers at East Asian-invested enterprises(EAIEs) in the transitional Chinese economy. The data was collected from 2000 to 2001 from managers and workers at Hong Kong-, Taiwanese-, Korean-, and Japanese -invested factories in coastal cities. This result finds that institutional arrangements linked to work conditions determine whether migrant workers remain or leave the workplace. It implies that in loosely coupled institutional environment where the labor laws do not always govern organization behaviors, employees have few reasons to be loyal to companies in a precarious labor market, increasing their distress and resulting in their decision to quit and switch firms. Taiwanese-owned firms had the highest LT rates, followed by Korean, then those from Hong Kong and finally Japanese. Taiwanese -owned firms seem to have had the highest LT rates because they had very low union membership, low wages and long weekly work hours-all of which increased workers’ dissatisfaction. Korean-owned firms recorded the second highest LT rates, which seemed to cause by their high composition of female workers, low wages and short work hours. The high proportions of female migrant workers, relatively low wages and long work hours arising from weak union membership in Hong Kong-owned firms contributed to their ranking as second lowest LT, although the wholly Hong Kong-owned enterprises and longer operation periods had a diluting effect on LT. On the other hand, having the best compensation packages, short work hours and high union membership influenced the low LT rates of Japanese-owned firms. Further research needs to be undertaken on how the new Labor Contract Law enacted from the beginning of 2008 will affect LT in EAIEs.