Among the most dramatic changes to affect China in the 1990s is the upsurge in labour mobility and the emergence of a market-driven system of labour allocation, changes which profoundly affect the working environment and livelihoods of the Chinese people. Papers in this collection draw on a wide variety of data sources to analyse key elements of this transformation. Topics examined include the determinants of productivity and labour allocation in the rural sector, the motivations for the rural population to migrate, and the effect of reforms on rural-urban segmentation, sectoral labour allocation and wage determination. The longer term welfare implications of these changes are explored through a study of pension reform. These issues are central to an understanding of major policy challenges currently facing the Chinese government as it speeds up state entreprise reform bringing into the open formerly disguised un- or under-employment, and considers options for the construction of alternative, non-enterprise based social security provision in both rural and urban areas.