Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/80022

Since the production responsibility contractual reform, the previous state farms' employees on China's Hainan Island became individual farming households (called worker-households), specially so in the 1990s when counter-seasonal vegetables and mango-cum-tropical fruits were introduced to replace the old crop of rubber. The implication of economic self-management caused great changes. This paper aims to analyse the self-management economy and the employment structure of worker-households with the case of ethnic Li villages(production brigades previously). Although similar to other regions where population increased noticeably, ethnic Li villages had a different age pattern with disproportionately more young and middle-aged people. This can be attribute to the fact that all ethnic minorities were free from the one-child policy and thus maintained their family size. In addition, plenty job opportunities prevented young people to emigrate. In particular, among the 40 to 50-year old age group,the best qualified were promoted to official ranks and the rest formed the core workforce in the self-management economy; in both cases their incomes were secure. The group of aged 25 and younger became the second echelon of farmers and did not have to emigrate, either. Favourable policies of the state farms might play a part. On the whole, the employment structure of these ethnic Li worker-households in a semi-mountainous area remained stable.