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Wage Fluctuations in Japan after the Bursting of the Bubble Economy: Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity, Payroll, and the Unemployment Rate

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Author Info
Kuroda, Sachiko (Institute for Money and Econ Studies, Bank of Japan)
Yamamoto, Isamu (Institute for Money and Econ Studies, Bank of Japan)
Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the existence and persistence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) for full-time employees based on the wage fluctuations observed in Japan following the bursting of the bubble economy of the early 1990s. We also examine the extent to which DNWR has boosted firms' real payroll adjusted for labor productivity. We then estimate a version of the Phillips curve with DNWR to measure the impact of DNWR on Japan's unemployment rate. We summarize the results of this paper as follows. First, DNWR measured by the total annual earnings of full-time employees in Japan was observed from 1992 to 1997, but disappeared after 1998. Second, DNWR observed from 1992 to 1997 seemed to have raised firms' real payroll adjusted for labor productivity during a period in which both inflation and labor productivity growth were low. Third, our estimation results suggest that DNWR from 1992 to 1997 raised the unemployment rate by approximately 1 percentage point at the most, although it may overstate the effect of DNWR on unemployment.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan in its journal Monetary and Economic Studies.

Volume (Year): 23 (2005)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 1-29
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Handle: RePEc:ime:imemes:v:23:y:2005:i:2:p:1-29

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
R23 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Kahn, Shulamit, 1997. "Evidence of Nominal Wage Stickiness from Microdata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(5), pages 993-1008, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Nishizaki, Kenji & Watanabe, Tsutomu, 2000. "Output-Inflation Trade-Off at Near-Zero Inflation Rates," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 304-326, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. David Lebow & Raven Saks & Beth Anne Wilson, 2003. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity: Evidence from the Employment Cost Index," Advances in Macroeconomics, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1117-1117. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Kimura, Takeshi & Ueda, Kazuo, 2001. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 50-67, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Tobin, James, 1972. "Inflation and Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 1-18, March.
  6. Kuroda, Sachiko & Yamamoto, Isamu, 2003. "Are Japanese Nominal Wages Downwardly Rigid? (Part I): Examinations of Nominal Wage Change Distributions," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 21(2), pages 1-29, August. [Downloadable!]
  7. William Poole, 1999. "Is inflation too low?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jul, pages 3-10. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Louis N. Christofides & Man Tuen Leung, 2003. "Nominal Wage Rigidity in Contract Data: A Parametric Approach," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 70(280), pages 619-638, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Emmanuel De Veirman, 2007. "Which nonlinearity in the Phillips curve? The absence of accelerating deflation in Japan," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2007/14, Reserve Bank of New Zealand. [Downloadable!]
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