主题：Labor Market Institutions and Income Inequality: Perspectives from East Asia Compared to the U.S.  （劳动力市场制度与收入不平等：东亚与美国的比较）

主讲人：Arthur Sakamoto（香港浸会大学社会科学院社会学系教授）

时间：2023年10月20日14:30-16:00

地点：二体B101报告厅

主办单位：北京大学社会研究中心

协办单位：北京大学燕京学堂

摘要

Labor  market institutions play a central intermediary role between the level  of household income  inequality in a society and the underlying causal processes generating  salary differences. We review research on social stratification and  labor market institutions with a focus on typical East Asian practices  versus common American perspectives about income  inequalities. In contrast to American concerns about discrimination,  equality of opportunity, and individualism, the understanding of labor  market inequalities in East Asian societies is more influenced by a  collectivist cultural tradition. Labor market institutions  that are common in East Asia likely play an important role in reducing  their level of household income inequality relative to the US where the  Gini coefficient has continued to increase for decades and shows no  signs of decreasing despite declining levels  of discrimination. We  discuss several institutions and their related norms including:  seniority-pay systems and age-based income differentials;  strong work norms; status hierarchies; traditional gender roles and  family structure; exam-based educational systems; social norms  discouraging excessive borrowing; promoting family businesses and  moderating the effects of global competition; and low immigration  especially of less-skilled workers. Although these norms and  institutions vary significantly across East Asian countries, they are  more similar within East Asia than with respect to the U.S. We discuss  how these labor market institutions promote socioeconomic  equality in East Asia.

Arthur Sakamoto

香港浸会大学社会科学院社会学系教授，系主任。主要研究兴趣包括社会分层与不平等、经济社会学、人口学、种族与民族关系以及东亚社会。在加入香港浸会大学之前，他曾在德克萨斯农工大学（Texas A&M University）社会学系任教。目前正在基于经济剥削模式的阶级结构组织模型研究南亚裔美国人的社会经济成就，以及东亚社会不平等和流动性研究综述。他教授统计学和研究方法、种族和民族关系、人口学和社会分层等课程。

他曾在AmericanSociological Review，Annual Review of Sociology，Demography，International Migration Review 等期刊上发表研究论文。