Global city and precarious work of migrants in China: A survey of seven cities

Abstract

Drawing on data from a sample of 2,518 migrant workers from seven cities in China, this paper examines how precarious work of migrants varies across different types of cities. The research finds that compared with their counterparts in the non-global cities, migrant workers in Shanghai experience lower levels of precarity in their jobs. Additionally, with regards to different aspects of precariousness of work, Shanghai performs particularly better on providing labor contracts and social insurances. Contrary to the standard “Global City” hypothesis, it seems that in a developing country such as China, globalization is more likely to improve the institutionalization and standardization of industrial relationships rather than decay them. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.