China Economic Quarterly International (Jun 2023)
How minimum wage shortens employment terms?
Abstract
The nationwide implementation of the minimum wage system in 1993 was followed by the “Minimum Wage Regulations” in 2004 with an attempt to enhance regulatory stringency of the system. The article constructs a theoretical model to establish testable propositions and conducts empirical analysis using China's Nutrition and Health Survey data to examine the impact of the minimum wage system on enterprise employment decisions. The findings reveal that the increase in the minimum wage has resulted in a shift towards short-term employment forms, and the strengthening of the minimum wage system in 2004 has further amplified this trend.