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Labor Market Responses to Legal Work Hour Reduction: Evidence from Japan

Author

Listed:
  • KAWAGUCHI Daiji
  • NAITO Hisahiro
  • YOKOYAMA Izumi

Abstract

Japan's labor standard law defines weekly legal work hours, and employers must pay a 25- percent wage premium for overtime. The number of legal work hours was 48 in 1987 and gradually declined to 40 by 1997. During the corresponding period, the average weekly hours of work dropped from 45 to 41, suggesting the causal effect of legal regulation on the actual hours of work. Exploiting the different timing of the regulation change by industry and establishment size, this paper estimates the causal impact of legal work hour restriction on actual hours worked. The analysis results indicate that a one-hour reduction of legal work hours led to a reduction of 0.14 actual hours worked, but it was not accompanied by a reduction in monthly cash earnings. The recruitment of new school graduates was suppressed in response to an increase in the hourly wage rate.

Suggested Citation

  • KAWAGUCHI Daiji & NAITO Hisahiro & YOKOYAMA Izumi, 2008. "Labor Market Responses to Legal Work Hour Reduction: Evidence from Japan," ESRI Discussion paper series 202, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:esj:esridp:202
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    Cited by:

    1. Nao Sudo & Kozo Ueda & Kota Watanabe & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2018. "Working Less and Bargain Hunting More: Macroimplications of Sales during Japan's Lost Decades," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2-3), pages 449-478, March.
    2. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2016. "Fewer school days, more inequality," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 35-52.
    3. Jungmin Lee & Daiji Kawaguchi & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2012. "Aggregate Impacts of a Gift of Time," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 612-616, May.
    4. Kawaguchi, Daiji & Lee, Jungmin & Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2013. "A gift of time," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 205-216.
    5. KODAMA Naomi & YOKOYAMA Izumi, 2017. "Labor Market Impact of Labor Cost Increase without Productivity Gain: A natural experiment from the 2003 social insurance premium reform in Japan," Discussion papers 17093, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Breton, Theodore R., 2015. "Human capital and growth in Japan: Converging to the steady state in a 1% world," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 73-89.
    7. repec:clr:wugarc:y:2016v:42i:04p:665 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Philipp Poyntner, 2016. "Beschäftigungseffekte von Arbeitszeitverkürzung," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 42(4), pages 665-684.
    9. Lee, Jungmin & Lee, Yong-Kwan, 2016. "Can working hour reduction save workers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 25-36.
    10. Antal, Miklós, 2014. "Green goals and full employment: Are they compatible?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 276-286.
    11. YOKOYAMA Izumi & KODAMA Naomi & HIGUCHI Yoshio, 2016. "What Happened to Wage Inequality in Japan during the Last 25 Years? Evidence from the FFL decomposition method," Discussion papers 16081, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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