An Empirical Study of the Unfilled Vacancy in Japan: Some Results from "Employment Trend Survey"(in Japanese)

This paper investigated the determinants of the unfilled vacancy in Japan using micro data on establishments. The main results obtained in the paper are as follows. First, the rapid decrease in the number of unfilled vacancies during 1990's are attributed both to a decreased number of establishments with at least one vacancy and the decreased number of vacancies in each establishment. It is found that the impact of the former is almost double of the latter. Second, vacancies have been lost mainly in small or medium-sized firms in industries such as construction, manufacturing, and retail and wholesale trade. Third, we estimated several equations explaining unfilled vacancy rates using the procedure proposed by Holzer (1994). It was found that the variables such as job separation rates, local unemployment rates, and firm size dummies have significant effects on the unfilled vacancy rates. Moreover the dependent variable is also affected by average age of each establishment and labor flow from other establishments. Fourth, the decline of the unfilled vacancy rate during 1990's can be explained both by a decrease in the 'ex ante vacancy rate' and by an increase in the rate at which vacancies are filled. It was fond the latter effect dominates the former. Fifth, the rate at which vacancies are filled is higher in large firms, resulting in the decreased vacancy rates with respect to firm size.