The contemporary meaning of the constitutional norm of distribution according to labor

ABSTRACT Distribution according to labor is an important economic and labor system in China’s Constitution, and its contemporary meaning needs to be explicated from the perspective of economic reform. The economic reform has set an evolutionary interpretive stance for the constitutional norm of distribution according to labor, and the practice and needs of the reform have constituted the main basis for the interpretation. The economic reform introduced the market economy system, reconstructed the ownership structure and distribution system, and also changed the institutional environment for the distribution according to labor. In the process of adapting to the institutional environment, the normative meaning of distribution according to labor is being continuously enriched. Distribution according to labor also serves important constitutional goals and constitutional values. And the inclusion of the new development concept in the Constitution means that innovation and sharing become new constitutional value goals. So the interpretation of the norm of distribution according to labor should be connected with the three major goals of efficiency, innovation and sharing.