Abstract:

Analyzing longitudinal data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS 2010 and 2012) from a dynamic process perspective, this paper systematically discusses job mobility patterns and their economic consequences in China's dual system segmentation labor market. We propose that the system segmentation becomes an important collective mechanism shaping mobility opportunity structure and rising economic inequality in the labor market. The system has three effects on job mobility:1) Stability effect:The system provides internal protection for its members; job shifts are less likely to occur inside the system than outside the system. 2) Income effect:Job changers gain higher income growth in the system than outside the system. 3) Entrenchment effect:The system becomes an invisible boundary and hinders entry into the system. These three effects of the system segmentation on job mobility are significant and robust, even after we consider selectivity. This paper combines system segmentation and workflow processes to explore the dynamic effect of the system on the labor market structure, which helps to better understand the stratification in China's current labor market.

Key words: empirical strategy, system segmentation, job mobility, income effect