Is Labor Market Mismatch a Big Deal in Japan?

Is Labor Market Mismatch a Big Deal in Japan? PDF Author: Mr.Ippei Shibata
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484392272
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description
Despite its low unemployment rate, the recent shift in the Japanese Beveridge curve indicates increased labor mismatch. This paper quantifies the age, employment-type (full or part-time), and occupational mismatch in the Japanese labor market following Sahin and others (2013). Between April 2000 and April 2013, the age mismatch has steadily declined while the occupational and employmenttype mismatch has shown a countercyclical pattern, showing a sharp increase during the global financial crisis. Occupational mismatch accounted for approximtely 20-40 percent of the recent rise in the unemployment rate in Japan. The magnitude was comparable to that of the U.K. and the U.S.

Is Labor Market Mismatch a Big Deal in Japan?

Is Labor Market Mismatch a Big Deal in Japan? PDF Author: Mr.Ippei Shibata
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484392272
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description
Despite its low unemployment rate, the recent shift in the Japanese Beveridge curve indicates increased labor mismatch. This paper quantifies the age, employment-type (full or part-time), and occupational mismatch in the Japanese labor market following Sahin and others (2013). Between April 2000 and April 2013, the age mismatch has steadily declined while the occupational and employmenttype mismatch has shown a countercyclical pattern, showing a sharp increase during the global financial crisis. Occupational mismatch accounted for approximtely 20-40 percent of the recent rise in the unemployment rate in Japan. The magnitude was comparable to that of the U.K. and the U.S.

How Did Japan Achieve a 1% Unemployment Rate?

How Did Japan Achieve a 1% Unemployment Rate? PDF Author: Makio Yamada
Publisher: King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS)
ISBN: 6038206493
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Japan was once a country that suffered from slow progress in its economic diversification away from agriculture. While the country modernized rapidly after 1868, the problem of a skills mismatch between education and industry remained throughout the first half of the 20th century. With a large number of educated but jobless citizens, youth unemployment continued to be a major economic problem. Nevertheless, a few decades later, the country developed a productive workforce harnessing its “youth bulge” demographics and succeeded in building competitive export-oriented manufacturing industries. During the 16 years between 1960 and 1975, in which the country’s GDP per capita grew almost tenfold, Japan achieved a consistent unemployment rate of 1%. This paper analyzes how Japan facilitated an education-to-employment transition of its young citizens, thus realizing the effective allocation of human resources to new industries. It identifies three elements of success in particular, which may offer useful insights to policy-makers in today’s emerging economies who are faced with the problem of unemployment. First, Japan overcame the problem of a skills mismatch not by directly addressing the problem itself, but rather by building a system which brought about the matching of “expectations”. The government created institutional linkages between educational bodies and private firms through the Employment Stabilization Offices. These linkages provided young job-seekers with knowledge of the existing labor demand, and helped them in adjusting their career expectations in accordance with the situations in the labor market, while simultaneously enabling private firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to recruit from the workforce across the country. Second, substantial teaching of job-oriented knowledge and skills was carried out by private firms, in the form of in-firm training programs for new and early-career employees. With some exceptions, the Japanese government’s early attempts to develop public industrial education did not succeed because of the absence of mechanisms to feed skills requirements in new industries into school curricula. On the other hand, the government’s support to private firms through training subsidies effectively alleviated the concerns of private firms, especially SMEs, which had been hesitant about investing in training due to their fear that they would be unable to recoup the training costs. Third, while the education sector itself was not sufficiently capable of narrowing the skills mismatch itself, the school curricula nonetheless contributed to the “trainability” of young citizens. In particular, the emphasis on work ethic, through the Confucian idea of kō, or filial piety, imbued children with the virtue of diligence – a belief that working hard is good in itself. This type of education is considered to have created a pool of potentially productive workers, although the harnessing of that potential required economic institutions that offer incentive systems. Finally, the paper discusses whether this Japanese experience is transferable to the context of today’s emerging economies – in particular, Saudi Arabia. It concludes that the Japanese experience can, at least, provide them with useful insights and contribute to the building of the local capacity of “policy learning”. Some policies would appear to be easier to implement today owing to the progress in IT and AI, while other policies are likely to require tailored supportive measures to localize the practices.

The Changing Japanese Labor Market

The Changing Japanese Labor Market PDF Author: Akiomi Kitagawa
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811071586
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
This book reappraises the Japanese employment system, characterized by such practices as the periodic recruiting of new graduates, lifetime employment and seniority-based wages, which were praised as sources of high productivity and flexibility for Japanese firms during the period of high economic growth from the middle of the 1950s until the burst of bubbles in the early 1990s. The prolonged stagnation after the bubble burst induced an increasing number of people to criticize the Japanese employment system as a barrier to the structural changes needed to allow the economy to adjust to the new environment, with detractors suggesting that such a system only serves to protect the vested interests of incumbent workers and firms. By investigating what caused the long stagnation of the Japanese economy, this book examines the validity of this currently dominant view about the Japanese employment system. The rigorous theoretical and empirical analyses presented in this book provide readers with deep insights into the nature of the current Japanese labor market and its macroeconomic impacts.

To Fire or to Hoard? Explaining Japan’s Labor Market Response in the Great Recession

To Fire or to Hoard? Explaining Japan’s Labor Market Response in the Great Recession PDF Author: Mr.Masato Nakane
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1455212512
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 31

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Book Description
The Great Recession pushed Japan’s unemployment rate to historic highs, but the increase has been small by international standards and small relative to the large output shock. This paper explores Japan’s cyclical labor market response to the global financial crisis. Our findings suggest that: (i) employment responsiveness has been historically low but rising over time with the increasing importance of the non-regular workforce; (ii) the labor market response was consistent with historical patterns once we control for the size of the output shock; and (iii) the comparatively lower employment response vis-à-vis other countries can in part be explained by the quick implementation of an employment subsidy program, a more flexible wage system, and a corporate governance structure that places workers rights above shareholders.

The Japanese Employment System

The Japanese Employment System PDF Author: Haruo Shimada
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199247242
Category : Age and employment
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description


Internal Labour Markets in Japan

Internal Labour Markets in Japan PDF Author: Kenn Ariga
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139431420
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Japanese labour market practices have attracted considerable attention in the West for two reasons. Firstly, innovative human resource management (HRM) is responsible for the development of competitive industrial sectors. Secondly, inner flexibility of the labour market has produced low unemployment and wage flexibility. This study, originally published in 2000, provides a thorough investigation of the distinctive features of Japanese internal labour markets (ILM) and occupational labour markets (OLM), closely analyses important changes in ILM and considers future developments. It combines a mixture both of descriptive and of theoretical and econometric work and builds on the authors' wel- known previous research in this area. Also contains a detailed case study and the econometric analysis of HRM policies used by a large Japanese firm. Although the focus is on Japanese ILM, international comparisons are made throughout, mainly with reference to Europe and the United States.

The Japanese Labor Market During the COVID- 19 Pandemic

The Japanese Labor Market During the COVID- 19 Pandemic PDF Author: Shinya Kotera
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
This paper investigates labor market dynamics in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic drawing on macro and micro data. The pandemic and related containment measures had a large negative impact on employment, labor force participation, earnings, and labor market mobility, although policy support through furlough schemes partially mitigated the rise in unemployment. Our results indicate that industry effects were a crucial driver of labor market outcomes for different groups of employees — women, younger age groups, nonregular, self-employed, and low-income workers accounted for a disproportional share of employment in the hardest hit industries. We also find empirical evidence for the need to improve childcare and related support, training and upskilling offerings, and teleworking availability, and the role of skill mismatches in reducing labor market mobility and resource reallocation.

Labor Market Issues in Japan and Germany

Labor Market Issues in Japan and Germany PDF Author: Franz Schober
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Labor market
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This publication deals with current labor market issues in Japan, Germany and the European Union. In the book, the "labor market" serves as central focus point, yet the methodology of addressing this focus point is very broad. It includes the analysis of the general labor market development and its conditions in the European Union and in Japan as well as more specific investigations, such as the impact of fiscal policies, exchange rates or information technology on the demand for labor. The book also focusses on the single firm level, particularly on organizational performance, worktime flexibility and on occupational health and safety management. Other contributions address specific subsectors of the economy, such as the role of the female workforce in Japan, the development of the rural labor market in East Germany or the comparative impact of international workforce migrations in Hungary and in Japan. The results of the book, which reflect the outcome of an international conference at the University of Freiburg in 1996, may help to understand in more detail one of the most complex and serious problems of today's society and to find ways for its solution.

The Labor Market in Japan

The Labor Market in Japan PDF Author: 西川俊作
Publisher: [Tokyo] : University of Tokyo Press
ISBN:
Category : Labor supply
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Monographic compilation of essays on the labour market in Japan - covers business cycles and rural migration from the agricultural sector, labour mobility, the theory of labour supply, the effects of reduced hours of work on productivity, the retirement system, trends in employment and unemployment (1970-1975), wage determination (incl. Wage policy), the seniority wage payment system, wage differentials, economic implications of labour disputes in the public sector, etc. Bibliography pp. 271 and 272, graphs and statistical tables.

The Path to Higher Growth

The Path to Higher Growth PDF Author: Ms. Chie Aoyagi
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484366107
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description
This paper argues that Japan’s excessive labor market duality can reduce Total Factor Productivity (TFP) due to a negative impact on non-regular workers’ effort and on firms’ incentives to train them. On the basis of cross-country empirical evidence, the paper proposes some reform options. In particular, our analysis suggests that reducing the difference in employment protection between regular and non-regular workers would substantially reduce labor market duality in Japan. One reform consistent with these findings is the introduction of a Single Open Ended Contract for all newly hired workers. This reform could be complemented by a shift towards a model that combines labor market flexibility and security (“flexicurity”) and by policies aimed at encouraging wage growth.