{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/336375"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/336375","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Labour Market Dynamics of Self-employment in China: The Interplay of Institutions and Gender","abstract":"Self-employment has been regarded as a possible means of job creation and economic stimulation by the central government of China. While self-employed individuals acted as the forerunners of private enterprises in the early reform era and played a vital role in China’s market transition, the pathways to and outcomes of self-employment are conditioned by the changing opportunity structure, retreat of the socialist ideology and dominance of patriarchal norms in capitalist entrepreneurship. Using mixed research methods, I investigated China’s most recent self-employment patterns and outcomes, the disparity between self-employment entry in rural and urban regions, and the impact of institutional transformation on the opportunities available for men and women of different social groups. I argue that self-employment in contemporary China constitutes a reaction to structural disadvantages in access to the labour market and is mainly taken up by people who are socially and/or culturally discriminated against or otherwise disadvantaged. Self-employed individuals suffer from poor job quality and precarious working conditions since their low-paying jobs also tend to involve long and unsociable shifts. However, compared to waged/salaried jobs in privately-owned enterprises, self-employment generates a higher annual income and job satisfaction. It also allows greater autonomy and flexibility for women and rural-to-urban migrants in Chinese cities, while the benefits are largely offset by intensified self-exploitation, vulnerability, distraction and insecurity. I also argue that marketisation has widened the gender gap in employment outcomes and resulted in a different opportunity hierarchy for men and women in urban and rural labour markets. While drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative data, my exploration of self-employment in China during the 2010s represents the first comprehensive study examining the heterogeneity of self-employment in rural and urban China. My empirical findings give rise to new research questions and call for greater attention to the gendered pattern of self-employment participation and performance in China in an increasingly marketised era.","abstract_html":"Self-employment has been regarded as a possible means of job creation and economic stimulation by the central government of China. While self-employed individuals acted as the forerunners of private enterprises in the early reform era and played a vital role in China’s market transition, the pathways to and outcomes of self-employment are conditioned by the changing opportunity structure, retreat of the socialist ideology and dominance of patriarchal norms in capitalist entrepreneurship. Using mixed research methods, I investigated China’s most recent self-employment patterns and outcomes, the disparity between self-employment entry in rural and urban regions, and the impact of institutional transformation on the opportunities available for men and women of different social groups. I argue that self-employment in contemporary China constitutes a reaction to structural disadvantages in access to the labour market and is mainly taken up by people who are socially and/or culturally discriminated against or otherwise disadvantaged. Self-employed individuals suffer from poor job quality and precarious working conditions since their low-paying jobs also tend to involve long and unsociable shifts. However, compared to waged/salaried jobs in privately-owned enterprises, self-employment generates a higher annual income and job satisfaction. It also allows greater autonomy and flexibility for women and rural-to-urban migrants in Chinese cities, while the benefits are largely offset by intensified self-exploitation, vulnerability, distraction and insecurity. I also argue that marketisation has widened the gender gap in employment outcomes and resulted in a different opportunity hierarchy for men and women in urban and rural labour markets. While drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative data, my exploration of self-employment in China during the 2010s represents the first comprehensive study examining the heterogeneity of self-employment in rural and urban China. My empirical findings give rise to new research questions and call for greater attention to the gendered pattern of self-employment participation and performance in China in an increasingly marketised era.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Xia, Shuting"],"institution":"University of Cambridge","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Burchell, Brendan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-09-10","date_published":"2021-09-10","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:27Z","subjects":["Self-employment","China","Job quality"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83792","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.doi"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Burchell, Brendan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Xia, Shuting"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-09-10"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cambridge"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/336375"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Self-employment","China","Job quality"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["10.17863/CAM.83792"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/03a8dacd-351b-4694-8085-2cbf790807b4/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Self-employment has been regarded as a possible means of job creation and economic stimulation by the central government of China. 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Self-employed individuals suffer from poor job quality and precarious working conditions since their low-paying jobs also tend to involve long and unsociable shifts. However, compared to waged/salaried jobs in privately-owned enterprises, self-employment generates a higher annual income and job satisfaction. It also allows greater autonomy and flexibility for women and rural-to-urban migrants in Chinese cities, while the benefits are largely offset by intensified self-exploitation, vulnerability, distraction and insecurity. I also argue that marketisation has widened the gender gap in employment outcomes and resulted in a different opportunity hierarchy for men and women in urban and rural labour markets. While drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative data, my exploration of self-employment in China during the 2010s represents the first comprehensive study examining the heterogeneity of self-employment in rural and urban China. 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While self-employed individuals acted as the forerunners of private enterprises in the early reform era and played a vital role in China’s market transition, the pathways to and outcomes of self-employment are conditioned by the changing opportunity structure, retreat of the socialist ideology and dominance of patriarchal norms in capitalist entrepreneurship. Using mixed research methods, I investigated China’s most recent self-employment patterns and outcomes, the disparity between self-employment entry in rural and urban regions, and the impact of institutional transformation on the opportunities available for men and women of different social groups. I argue that self-employment in contemporary China constitutes a reaction to structural disadvantages in access to the labour market and is mainly taken up by people who are socially and/or culturally discriminated against or otherwise disadvantaged. Self-employed individuals suffer from poor job quality and precarious working conditions since their low-paying jobs also tend to involve long and unsociable shifts. However, compared to waged/salaried jobs in privately-owned enterprises, self-employment generates a higher annual income and job satisfaction. It also allows greater autonomy and flexibility for women and rural-to-urban migrants in Chinese cities, while the benefits are largely offset by intensified self-exploitation, vulnerability, distraction and insecurity. I also argue that marketisation has widened the gender gap in employment outcomes and resulted in a different opportunity hierarchy for men and women in urban and rural labour markets. While drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative data, my exploration of self-employment in China during the 2010s represents the first comprehensive study examining the heterogeneity of self-employment in rural and urban China. 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