THE IMPACT OF EXPORT EXPANSION ON OCCUPATION STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN CHINA

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the impact of gross export expansion on long-term occupation structural change in China. Unlike the job polarization seen in developed countries or the expected concave shape present in developing countries, China’s occupation structure exhibits a “mountain-valley” pattern during the period 2000 to 2010. We have analyzed the national dataset from 2000 to 2010, and the trade flow dataset from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS). After investigating the change in employment in general, we also examine the change within certain occupation groups and conclude that international trade could exert varying demands on the same occupation in different industries. The empirical finding suggests that export expansion has a positive and significant influence on the manufacturing sector’s occupation structural change due to reduced tariffs after WTO accession in 2001. Other hypotheses, such as routineness and offshorability do not have significant results in explaining China’s occupation structure.