He Xiaobin: Work Authority, Work Autonomy and the Formation of Subjective Status Identification
Work Authority, Work Autonomy and the Formation of Subjective Status Identification - An Empirical Study Based on the Labor Process of Entrepreneurs
Sociological Studies, 2021 Issue 5
[Abstract]
Since the reform and opening up policy, the group of entrepreneurs composed of private business owners and the self-employed has been continuously growing. Existing studies mainly explain the formation of subjective status identification in terms of objective social economic status. This paper, however, analyzes the influence of work authority and work autonomy on the formation of subjective class identification. Based on the empirical analyses of the CGSS 2015 dataset, it is found that entrepreneurs have higher work authority and work autonomy than non-entrepreneurs, thereby attaining higher status identification. Compared to the objective social and economic factor such as income, the labor process is more important to the formation of subjective status identification. Our results suggest the vitality of the labor process centered perspective in today's study of social stratification and class identification.
