後毛時期的勞動關係與工會發展：一個國家資本主義的觀點

Labor Relations and Trade Union Development in Post-Mao China: A State Capitalist Perspective

本文採用國家資本主義觀點來解釋勞動政治發展，尤其是中國改革時期後工會能力的改變。在中國，國家資本主義不只涉及到勞動市場中持續的國家干預，還包含國家分裂及非正式制度問題。從 1990年代開始，中國政府促進國有企業的行為，已經使得私有企業受到阻礙。為了促進利益，私有企業與地方政府共謀，去規避正式制度及法規。對勞動關係而言，這將導致勞動法執行的鬆懈，以及工會的邊緣化。雖然勞動衝突的升高，以及中央政策轉向社會議題，都促使地方政府透過增加工會能力來作回應，但工會的角色仍在避免勞動衝突，而非促進勞動權益。本文使用一種新的省層級資料庫，透過實證分析結合工會、勞動衝突解決和一小案例研究，本研究得到以下的發現。控制經濟和公司因素後，當工會有額外的能力去參與解決勞動衝突，將會有越多的勞動衝突得到紓解。本發現也建議如果只有工會的能力增加，並不會增加工會對勞工的代表性，且本發現不只在對工會的權威上抱持一個較不樂觀的觀點，也在研究國家資本主義的課題上具有理論性的暗示。

This paper adopts the state capitalist approach to explain the development of labor politics, particularly changes in union capacities, since the reform period. In China, state capitalism not only entails the persistence of state intervention in labor markets, but also state fragmentation and the importance of informal institutions. Since the 1990s, the Chinese state's promotion of state-owned enterprises has created barriers for private enterprises. To achieve profits, private enterprises colluded with local governments to bypass formal institutions and regulations. For labor relations, this led to the lax implementation of labor laws and union marginalization. While the rise of labor disputes and the turn of central policy towards social issues prompted local governments to respond by increasing union capacities, unions were given the role of preventing labor unrest rather than articulating workers' rights. Based on empirical analyses using a new provincial-level dataset compiled on union capacities and labor dispute settlements and a mini case study, this paper obtains the following findings. By controlling for economic and firm factors, more disputes were resolved when unions had additional capacity to participate in the resolution of labor disputes. The findings also suggest that the growth of union capacities alone did not improve the unions' representation of workers, and thus the findings not only cast a less optimistic light on the prospect of union autonomy but also have theoretical implications for studies on state capitalism.