IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eti/dpaper/19067.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Determinants of Structural Adjustment and Employment Use in Japan: Firm Characteristics, Offshoring and Industrial Robotics

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy DESTEFANO
  • HANEDA Sho
  • KWON Hyeog Ug

Abstract

The following paper examines the determinants of structural adjustment in Japan. Unlike many other developed economies, firms in Japan rely more on changes to employment composition than mass layoffs as a method of structural change. Examining the drivers of changes in employee composition in Japan is therefore of interest to policy makers and academics alike. This research uses a novel plant-level dataset, which contains considerable detail on the types of employees used by Japanese manufacturers between 2001 and 2014. The results find a number of countervailing factors that explain the use of certain employment types. Growth in the diffusion of robotics is linked to the use of fewer non-regular employees. This appears to be partially driven by the fact that these machines positively predict the dismissal of certain types of non-regular workers. Offshoring from Japan leads to the use of a higher proportion of non-regular to regular workers, potentially due to increased competition faced by plants from abroad. Plant productivity however leads to the use of more regular to non-regular workers. Finally, establishments which experienced job dismissals in the past are substituting away from regular to non-regular workers in the present.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy DESTEFANO & HANEDA Sho & KWON Hyeog Ug, 2019. "Determinants of Structural Adjustment and Employment Use in Japan: Firm Characteristics, Offshoring and Industrial Robotics," Discussion papers 19067, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:19067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/19e067.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hirokatsu Asano & Takahiro Ito & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2013. "Why Has the Fraction of Nonstandard Workers Increased? A Case Study of Japan," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(4), pages 360-389, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 1999. "The Impact of Outsourcing and High-Technology Capital on Wages: Estimates For the United States, 1979–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 907-940.
    4. Georg Graetz & Guy Michaels, 2018. "Robots at Work," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 753-768, December.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2017. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-297, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    6. 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.
    7. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    8. Filipe Silva & Carlo Menon & Paolo Falco & Duncan MacDonald, 2019. "Structural adjustment, mass lay-offs and employment reallocation," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers 72, OECD Publishing.
    9. Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo, 2018. "The Productivity-Wage Premium: Does Size Still Matter in a Service Economy?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 328-333, May.
    10. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    11. Kiyota, Kozo & Maruyama, Sawako, 2017. "ICT, offshoring, and the demand for part-time workers: The case of Japanese manufacturing," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 75-86.
    12. Falk, Martin & Koebel, Bertrand M, 2002. " Outsourcing, Imports and Labour Demand," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 104(4), pages 567-586, December.
    13. Alexander Hijzen & Holger Görg & Robert C. Hine, 2005. "International Outsourcing and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand in the United Kingdom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(506), pages 860-878, October.
    14. Koen De Backer & Timothy DeStefano & Carlo Menon & Jung Ran Suh, 2018. "Industrial robotics and the global organisation of production," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2018/03, OECD Publishing.
    15. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2013. "Misallocation and productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, January.
    16. Izumi Yokoyama & Kazuhito Higa & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2018. "Adjustments of regular and non-regular workers to exogenous shocks: Evidence from exchange rate fluctuation," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 18-E-2, Bank of Japan.
    17. Kambayashi, Ryo & Kato, Takao, 2011. "Long-term Employment and Job Security over the Last Twenty-Five Years: A Comparative Study of Japan and the U.S," IZA Discussion Papers 6183, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    19. Sanghoon Ahn & Kyoji Fukao & Keiko Ito, 2008. "Outsourcing in East Asia and its impact on the Japanese and Korean Labour Markets," OECD Trade Policy Papers 65, OECD Publishing.
    20. Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2004. "The Role of Globalization in the Within-Industry Shift Away from Unskilled Workers in France," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges to Globalization: Analyzing the Economics, pages 209-231, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dekle, Robert, 2020. "Robots and industrial labor: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2020. "Heterogeneous Relationships between Automation Technologies and Skilled Labor: Evidence from a Firm Survey," Discussion papers 20004, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Davide Dottori, 2021. "Robots and employment: evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 739-795, July.
    2. Cali,Massimiliano & Presidente,Giorgio, 2021. "Automation and Manufacturing Performance in a Developing Country," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9653, The World Bank.
    3. Sanghoon Ahn & Kyoji Fukao & Keiko Ito, 2008. "The Impact of Outsourcing on the Japanese and South Korean Labor Markets: International Outsourcing of Intermediate Inputs and Assembly in East Asia," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd08-001, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Lütkenhorst, Wilfried, 2018. "Creating wealth without labour? Emerging contours of a new techno-economic landscape," IDOS Discussion Papers 11/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    5. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Fernández, Gastón P. & Rammer, Christian, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and firm-level productivity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 188-205.
    6. Neil Foster-McGregor & Robert Stehrer & Gaaitzen Vries, 2013. "Offshoring and the skill structure of labour demand," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(4), pages 631-662, December.
    7. Kozo Kiyota & Sawako Maruyama, 2018. "On the Demand for Female Workers in Japan: The Role of ICT and Offshoring," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 25-46, Summer.
    8. Manav Raj & Robert Seamans, 2018. "Artificial Intelligence, Labor, Productivity, and the Need for Firm-Level Data," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Artificial Intelligence: An Agenda, pages 553-565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bernhard Michel & François Rycx, 2012. "Does offshoring of materials and business services affect employment? Evidence from a small open economy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 229-251, January.
    10. Kaltenberg, Mary & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2020. "The impact of automation on inequality across Europe," MERIT Working Papers 2020-009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7n49nkmngd8448a5ts5gt5ade0 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Aina Gallego & Thomas Kurer & Nikolas Schöll, 2018. "Not so disruptive after all: How workplace digitalization affects political preferences," Economics Working Papers 1623, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    13. Timothy F. Slaper, 2019. "Automation and Offshoring in Durable Goods Manufacturing: An Indiana Case Study," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 33(1), pages 19-38, February.
    14. Dosi, G. & Piva, M. & Virgillito, M.E. & Vivarelli, M., 2021. "Embodied and disembodied technological change: The sectoral patterns of job-creation and job-destruction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(4).
    15. Krenz, Astrid & Prettner, Klaus & Strulik, Holger, 2021. "Robots, reshoring, and the lot of low-skilled workers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    16. Sunil Mani, 2018. "Robot Apocalypse Does It Matter For India’S Manufacturing Industry?," Working Papers id:12683, eSocialSciences.
    17. Klump, Rainer & Jurkat, Anne & Schneider, Florian, 2021. "Tracking the rise of robots: A survey of the IFR database and its applications," MPRA Paper 107909, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Nii-Aponsah, Hubert, 2022. "Automation exposure and implications in advanced and developing countries across gender, age, and skills," MERIT Working Papers 2022-021, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Kiyota, Kozo & Maruyama, Sawako, 2017. "ICT, offshoring, and the demand for part-time workers: The case of Japanese manufacturing," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 75-86.
    20. Fossen, Frank M. & Sorgner, Alina, 2019. "New Digital Technologies and Heterogeneous Employment and Wage Dynamics in the United States: Evidence from Individual-Level Data," IZA Discussion Papers 12242, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Van Roy, Vincent & Vertesy, Daniel & Damioli, Giacomo, 2019. "AI and Robotics Innovation: a Sectoral and Geographical Mapping using Patent Data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 433, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:19067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: TANIMOTO, Toko (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rietijp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.