Asian Societies from a Comparative Perspective

Asian Societies from a Comparative Perspective

Asian Societies from a Comparative Perspective

BSc Asian Studies Programme Fall 2013

48 hour take-home Written Examination

David Yao

090192-2039

CBS Asian Studies Programme Y1, Chinese

STU Count: 12.933

Introduction

Since China opened up its economy some 30 years ago, China has grown to become second only to the United States of America in terms of economic size – and China’s vast labor force has been one of the key drivers of this economic growth. Throughout this period, China has been able to meet the demands for agricultural, industrial, and service labor by tapping into its expanding workforce.

China’s economic boom is creating unprecedented demand for higher education. The expansion and diversification of the Chinese economy is raising incomes and presenting new employment opportunities, with a private enterprises sector growing at an incredible rate. Also with WTO accession in 2001 helped China further integrated in the Chinese economy into global trading patterns.

Despite a rapid and continuing expansion in the capacity of China’s higher education system, there remains a significant large gap between academic or vocational preparation and the requirements of the job market. In addition to specific skills shortages, employers complain of a lack of more basic competencies such as effective communication, interpersonal skills, functional skills, independent research capabilities and creativity (The economist Intelligent Unit, January 2006).

This research paper will focus on education and the labor market in China. I will focus on the relationships between education and the labor market in context with wages in China, which are inextricably linked to some of the policy enforcing China has undergone. By the end of the paper I hope to give you a better understanding of how the relation between education and labor market still plays...