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Temporary Workers, Permanent Workers, and International Trade: Evidence from Japanese firm-level data

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  • MATSUURA Toshiyuki
  • SATO Hitoshi
  • WAKASUGI Ryuhei

Abstract

The number of temporary workers in Japan's labor market has increased rapidly since the 1990s. This trend is particularly remarkable in the manufacturing sector, which now relies on sales to foreign markets. This paper formalizes the idea that global competition may encourage manufactures to shift from permanent to temporary workers, proposing a model of multi-product firms motivated to reduce revenue fluctuations. Firms prefer lower sales volatility because of labor adjustment costs. In such a framework, trade liberalization encourages firms to reduce the number of products, which raises the demand for temporary workers because they entail no firing costs. The model is also empirically tested using micro-data from Japanese manufacturing plants. The model's predictions are moderately supported.

Suggested Citation

  • MATSUURA Toshiyuki & SATO Hitoshi & WAKASUGI Ryuhei, 2011. "Temporary Workers, Permanent Workers, and International Trade: Evidence from Japanese firm-level data," Discussion papers 11030, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
  • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:11030
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Teruyama, Hiroshi & Goto, Yasuo & Lechevalier, Sebastien, 2018. "Firm-level labor demand for and macroeconomic increases in non-regular workers in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 90-105.
    2. MATSUURA Toshiyuki, 2013. "Why Did Manufacturing Firms Increase the Number of Non-regular Workers in the 2000s? Does international trade matter?," Discussion papers 13036, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Kyoji Fukao, 2013. "Explaining Japan's Unproductive Two Decades," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 8(2), pages 193-213, December.
    4. Lastauskas, Povilas & Proškutė, Aurelija & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2023. "How do firms adjust when trade stops?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 287-307.
    5. Tanaka, Ayumu & Ito, Banri & Wakasugi, Ryuhei, 2019. "How do exporters respond to exogenous shocks: Evidence from Japanese firm-level data," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-1.

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