Speaker: DENG Weiguang (Associate Professor, School of Economics & Trade, Hunan University)

Date: 12:00-13:00, 22nd June 2021

Venue: Room 306, Tongji Building A

Abstract: 

China has a unique name culture and implements special policies of supporting ethnic minorities. We investigate how the ethnic characteristics of Chinese names affect individuals’ labor market performance using data from the 2005 China census. The findings indicate that name sinicization decreases employment probabilities, monthly income, and hourly wages, but increases working hours. The effect of name sinicization varies with enterprise ownership types and minority status, and also differs between non-ethnic and ethnic autonomous areas. Name sinicization affects labor market outcomes, possibly by attenuating personal ethnic identities, improving education, and causing taste-based discrimination.