抄録
This paper will clarify the role which the baogongtou plays in the Chinese construction industry based on examination of a Project A in Chengyang, Qingdao, China. Through the baogongtou, migrant-workers from rural villages are able to acquire work and income. Most construction companies entrust all of the construction labor to baogongtou and also distribute wages to workers through baogongtou. At present, it has become clear that baogongtou is playing an indispensable role in the form of mediation between the migrant-workers and the construction companies. However, some negative facts have also become clear regarding baogongtou, particularly delayed and unpaid wages of such migrant-workers. Although baogongtou may be the ringleader of the problems in certain cases, in most cases, it is the fact that the baogongtou himself is one of the victims. If a baogongtou is not paid fully by the construction companies, the amount of wages that becomes negotiable and there is the possibility that the amount paid to the workers becomes lower. Such delayed and unpaid wages is a primary reason that the subcontracting system in the construction industry in China has become a hotbed of problems.
