中国与欧洲就业刺激政策的比较.docx

中国与欧洲就业刺激政策的比较.docx

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中国与欧洲就业刺激政策的比较

ThePracticeofActivationinChina

1.Introduction

Intheearly1990s,mostwesterncountrieswereplungedintorecessionsandexperiencedgreatchangesinsocialstructures,whichbroughtthepressurestowelfarestatesinEurope.TheproblemsofhighunemploymenthadbeenincreasinglyprominentandspreadingthroughouttheEurope.Undernewchallenges,manygovernmentsrealizedthattherewasaneedtoacttogetheratEUlevelandtofindsolutionsthroughcloserandlongercooperation.OnthebasisofthenewprovisionsoftheAmsterdamTreatyandlaunchedattheLuxembourgJobSummit,theEuropeanEmploymentStrategy（EES）cameoutanddevelopedsuccessfully（Wikipedia）.ItwasasignificantshiftfrompassivepoliciestoactivemeasuresandcontributedtosolveproblemsconcerninglabourmarketinEurope.

China,ontheothersideoftheworld,wasalsoconfrontedwithprofoundchangesinsocialandeconomicsystemsin1990s.Duringthecourseoftransformation,theproblemsofunemploymentemergedandthenrapidlybecomeunprecedentedpressuretothesociety.Asaconsequence,thegovernmentattemptedtoadoptactivewaystoimprovethelabour-marketpolicies.Althoughthegreatdifferencesinpolitics,economicsandculturesbetweenChinaandEU,thereweresimilaritiessharedbytheminincentivesofpolicyreformsthatwastomeettheneedofchanginginternalandexternalenvironments.ThispaperwillfirstdiscussthebackgroundoftheemploymentpolicyreforminChina,andthenusetheframeworkofactivationtoreflectontheEESandfurtheranalyzetheactivationpoliciesinChinatoseehowthepoliciescomforttotheactivation.

1.1ActivationpoliciesinEurope

Employmentisafundamentalsourceofempowermentandequality,andtopreventunemploymenthasalwaysbeenaprioritygoalofthelabourmovement.Somepeopleclaimedthatunemploymentinevitablyentailspowerlessness,lossofautonomyandsocialmarginalization,regardlessofeconomiccompensation.Sometimesitisevenclaimedthatgenerouswelfarearrangementsmakethingsworse.Firstly,labour-marketeconomisthavearguedthatgeneroussocialprotectionandlabour-marketregulationgivetheunemployedtoolittleincentivetoworkandkeeps"reservationwages"atalevelwherethemarketcannotprovidedasufficientnumberofjobsforthelessskilled.Asaconsequence,manylessskilledpeoplebecomeentrappedinlong-termunemployment.Secondly,unemploymentmayleadtowelfaredependencywhichturnscitizensintodemandingclientssometimes（Gouletal.P77-78）.

Fromtheviewpointofactivecitizenship,acitizenisexpectedtobeautonomousandself-responsible,aswellasflexibleandextremelymobile.Activecitizensareexpectedtobeabletocreatetheirbiographyindividuallyandadaptitcontinuouslytochangingexternalconditions（Gouletal.P7）.Thoseunemployedwhoaredisadvantagedandmarginalizedaresupposedtobeactivatedsothattheycanobtaintheabilitytoexploitopportunitiesandcontroltheirownlives.

Thecallforactivationpolicyfirstandforemostimpliesadirectlinkagebetweendifferentkindsofsocialprotectionsystemsandlabour-marketparticipation.Thereisnolongeracleardistinctionbetweendifferentlabour-marketpolicyandsocialpolicy,sincethesocietyaimsatmakingallcitizensactiveregardlesswhatkindofincometransferpaymentstheyreceive.Inthatsense,socialpolicyismuchmorelabour-marketorientedthanbefore（Gouletal.P136）.

Activationreferstojobtraining（intheformofasubsidizedtemporaryjob）oreducation,withthestronglyemphasizedaimofbringingpeoplebacktoemployment（Gouletal.vii）.InfluencedbyrecommendationsfromOECDandEuropeanCommissionthecallforashiftfrompassiveincometransferpaymentstoactiveemploymentmeasureshasbecomemoreandmorepopular（Gouletal.P135）.Duringthepastdecades,mostEuropeanwelfarestateshaveadaptedsomekindsofactivationpolicyintheiroverallunemploymentpolicy.Thenewactivelineinlabourmarketandsocialpolicyhasbeenintroducedunderdifferentnamesinthedifferentcountries.Theseactivemeasureshavebeenofprimeimportanceinreformingwelfaresystemsandinstimulatingorforcinglabour-marketparticipationofunemployed（Gouletal.P137）.

1.2TheEuropeanEmploymentStrategy（EES）

OnthebasisofthenewprovisionsoftheAmsterdamTreaty,theLuxembourgEuropeanCouncilofNovember1997initiatedtheEuropeanEmploymentStrategy（EES）,alsoknownas'theLuxembourgprocess'.Inthe1990s,politicalconsensusdevelopedaroundthestructuralnatureofEurope’semploymentproblemandontheneedtoincreasetheemploymentintensityofgrowth.Boththemonetarystabilizationpolicy,followedtoprepareforEconomicandMonetaryUnion,andthecommonnatureoftheemploymentandunemploymentchallenge,providedtheimpetusforamoreco-ordinatedemploymentorientedpolicyresponseatEuropeanlevel（eu-employment-）.TheTreatyofAmsterdamintroducedtheconceptofaEuropeanEmploymentStrategy,followingonfromtheintegratedstrategyforemploymentlaunchedattheEssenEuropeanCouncilinDecember1994.AtEssen,theEuropeanCouncilhadaskedtheMemberStatestodrawupmultiannualprogrammersforemployment（MAPs）andtoprovidetheCommissionwithreportsontheirimplementation.Thesereportsdescribethemainmeasurestakenbythegovernmentstoapplytheirmultiannualprogrammesovertheprevioustwelvemonths,assess,incertaincases,theimpactofthosemeasuresonemployment,andannouncemajorchangesornewinitiativesinthisfield（theWikipedia）.

TheLisbonEuropeanCouncilin2000,whilecontinuingtocallforgreatereffortstoreducethestillhighnumbersofunemployedpeople,setfullemploymentasanoverarchinglongtermgoalforthenewEuropeaneconomy.TheNiceEuropeanCouncilofDecember2000introducedtheissueofqualityastheguidingthreadoftheSocialPolicyAgenda,andinparticularqualityinworkasanimportantobjectiveoftheEES.Itstressedthemulti-dimensionalcharacterofthequalityissue,concerningbothjobcharacteristicsandthewiderlabourmarketcontext,andstatedthatitshouldbepromotedthroughactionsacrossthepillars.TheBarcelonaEuropeanCouncilinMarch2002identified"Activepoliciestowardsfullemployment:

moreandbetterjobs"amongstthethreeareasrequiringspecificimpetus.ItunderlinedthatfullemploymentintheEUisatthecoreoftheLisbonstrategyandconstitutestheessentialgoalofeconomicandsocialpolicies.（eu-employment-）.

2.Researchquestions

Aftertheoilshockin1970s,traditionalwelfarestatesinEuropeexperiencedweakgrowthinprospectandtheincreaseofunemployedpopulation.Highunemploymentcompensationprovidedbythegovernmentnotonlyledtotheriseofpublicexpenditurebutweakenedthemotivationsofjobseekers,whichresultedinaviciouscycleandthecountryeventuallyranintotheunemploymentcrisis.ThepolicyreforminChinamaysharesimilaritywithEuropeincontextwhichinvolvingsocialandeconomicrestructuring.Thefirstquestionis:

Q1:

WhatisthecontextoftheintroductionofactivationpoliciesinChina?

TheEESemphasizesthecommitmentoftheEUtopromoteemploymentandincludesaprocessthatdefinescommonobjectionsrelationtoemploymentpolicy,togetherwithguidelinesforthedevelopmentoftheemploymentpoliciesofmemberstates（Gouletal.viii）.ItisakindofsoftlawbasedonfourcomponentstobettercoordinateemploymentpolicieswithmacroeconomicandmicroeconomicpoliciesoftheEU.MonitoredandguidedbytheEES,memberstateshavemadeadjustmenttotheirlabourmarketpoliciesinaccordancewiththeGuidelinestomeetthecommontargets.

ThegovernmentofChinahasintroducednewpolicies（socalledwithChinesecharacteristics）topromotetheemployment.Theframeworkoftheprocesswasformedintheyear2002.Accordingtothecentralguidingpolicy,regionalgovernmentshavecarriedoutactivationpolicies.UnlikecountrieswithmaturedcapitalandlabourmarketinEurope,Chinaarelackingofasoundlabourforcemarketsystemtoachievetheefficientallocationoflabourresources,andtherearenoperfectwelfaresystem.Sothesecondquestionshouldbeproposed:

Q2:

HowdoactivationpoliciesworkinChina?

3.ThetransitionsofemploymentpoliciesinChina

3.1Socialistemploymentpolicies（1950s-1970s）

SincefoundationofsocialistChina,centralplanninghadbeenregardedthebasiceconomicpolicy.Thus,theemploymentpolicieswerebasedonthesocialistprincipleswhichwerecalledcentralizedjobplacementsystem.Thegovernmentdistributedlabourforcestovariousindustrialsectorsbyadministrativemeans.Thatis,Individualshadnoaccesstochoosetheirjobsandpositions.Therewasnofreeandopenlabourmarketinthecountrysincealltheenterpriseswerestateownedwhowerenotauthorizedtorecruitanddismissemployees.Thesalariesandwelfareonereceivedwerefromtheprovisionofthestateratherthantheenterprise.Therewasnosuchunemploymentinsurancesincepeoplehadtoworkinoneenterpriseallhislifeuntilretirementunderthissystem（Zhang,2009）.

3.2Aftertheopeningreform（1970s-1990s）

Attheendof1978,thegovernmentofChinabegantocarryoutthereformandopening-uppolicy,shiftfromtheplannedeconomyandthesemi-closedstatetothemarketeconomyandtheopenstate.Alongwiththepracticeofthereform,theemploymentpoliciesexperiencedadjustmentsundertheguidingprincipleofthree-in-onecombination（sanjiehe）whichdefinesthreeapproachesofemployment:

throughbothnationalallocationandapplicationonone'sowninitiative,andalsoencouragingself-employmenttopromotet