Job Mobility in Postreform Urban China

This paper examines the changing patterns of job mobility in postreform urban China. An integrated framework is adopted to analyze multiple types of mobility in the context of institutional changes. Based on the data from the 2008 Chinese General Social Survey, job mobility is found to have been accelerating since the mid-1990s, and similarities and disparities are documented among increases in employer separation rates, job shift rates, and employment exit rates. The observed increases in job mobility are driven not only by the economic privatization, but also by the spread of informal employment relationships. The increases in the rate of job shift depend on sector origins and destinations, which provides further evidence of the segmented structure of China's urban labor market.