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Unequal Japan: Conservative Corporatism and Labour Market Disparities

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  • Ji‐Whan Yun

Abstract

The majority of the literature on the increasing labour market disparities in Japan has attributed the trend to changing market circumstances or new government policies. However, this article claims that widening income disparities, especially between regular and non‐regular workers, are more deeply rooted in the nature of Japan's policy‐making mechanism. Combining industrial actors' conservative orientation towards dual labour markets and their corporatist interactions for policy making, this article argues that Japan's disparity problem has originated from its ‘conservative corporatism’. The article presents the manner in which conservative corporatism has widened the disparities in employment security and welfare benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Ji‐Whan Yun, 2010. "Unequal Japan: Conservative Corporatism and Labour Market Disparities," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 1-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:48:y:2010:i:1:p:1-25
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00769.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Toshiaki Tachibanaki, 2005. "Confronting Income Inequality in Japan: A Comparative Analysis of Causes, Consequences, and Reform," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262201585, December.
    2. Toshiaki Tachibanaki, 2006. "Inequality And Poverty In Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Michael Förster & Marco Mira d'Ercole, 2005. "Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries in the Second Half of the 1990s," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 22, OECD Publishing.
    4. Fumio OHTAKE, 2008. "Inequality in Japan," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 3(1), pages 87-109, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Huiyan Fu, 2016. "From ‘Entering into a Firm’ to ‘Entering into a Profession’: An Anthropological Approach to Changing Personhood in Japan," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 552-573, September.
    2. Ji-Whan Yun, 2011. "Labour market reforms in Japan and the Republic of Korea: A comparative case study of policy-making in the 2000s," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 150(3-4), pages 387-403, December.
    3. Saori Shibata, 2016. "Resisting Japan's Neoliberal Model of Capitalism: Intensification and Change in Contemporary Patterns of Class Struggle," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 496-521, September.

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