IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hit/hituec/770.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What is Happening to Unionization in Japan?

Author

Listed:
  • BRYSON, Alex
  • KAMBAYASHI, Ryo
  • KUWAHARA, Susumu
  • NAKAMURA, Akie
  • WELS, Jacques

Abstract

Official government estimates show a gradual decline in union density in Japan over several decades akin to that in other countries with decentralized bargaining structures. However, new evidence from various social surveys indicates that union density has been rising in Japan. Using one of these social surveys – the Survey on the Work and Life of Workers (SWLW) – we show union density has risen by 7.3 percentage points to 29.1% in the Japanese private sector between 2011/13 and 2020/24. We decompose the growth in union density since 2011/13 to establish how much of it is attributable to changes in workforce composition. Conditioning on union presence at the workplace, compositional change accounts for 47% of the increase in union density. The remaining 53% is due to within-group change with unions increasing membership across all types of worker including some with traditionally low rates of unionization. However, establishing a union at the workplace remains key since virtually all the growth in union membership (97%) is in unionized workplaces.

Suggested Citation

  • BRYSON, Alex & KAMBAYASHI, Ryo & KUWAHARA, Susumu & NAKAMURA, Akie & WELS, Jacques, 2025. "What is Happening to Unionization in Japan?," Discussion Paper Series 770, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:hituec:770
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/85944/DP770.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marsden, David, 1999. "A Theory of Employment Systems: Micro-Foundations of Societal Diversity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294221, Decembrie.
    2. Alex Bryson & Rafael Gomez, 2005. "Why Have Workers Stopped Joining Unions? The Rise in Never‐Membership in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 67-92, March.
    3. Tsuyoshi Tsuru & James B. Rebitzer, 1995. "The Limits of Enterprise Unionism: Prospects for Continuing Union Decline in Japan," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 459-492, September.
    4. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2010. "Labor unions and productivity: An empirical analysis using Japanese firm-level data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 1030-1037, December.
    5. Francis Green, 1992. "Recent Trends in British Trade Union Density: How Much of a Compositional Effect?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 445-458, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2015. "Dissatisfied Union Workers: Sorting Revisited," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 580-600, September.
    2. Tomohiko Noda & Daisuke Hirano, 2024. "The effect of enterprise unions on employment adjustment speed in Japanese firms," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(3), pages 645-669, September.
    3. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke, 2011. "Slip Sliding Away: Further Union Decline In Germany And Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(4), pages 490-518, September.
    4. Huw Beynon & Helen Blakely & Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2021. "The Persistence of Union Membership within the Coalfields of Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 1131-1152, December.
    5. Blanchflower, David G., 2006. "A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership," IZA Discussion Papers 2016, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke, 2011. "Slip Sliding Away: Further Union Decline In Germany And Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(4), pages 490-518, September.
    7. Cyprien Batut & Ulysse Lojkine & Paolo Santini, 2024. "“Which side are you on?” A historical study of union membership composition in seven Western countries," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 205-287, April.
    8. Noda, Tomohiko & Hirano, Daisuke, 2013. "Enterprise unions and downsizing in Japan before and after 1997," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 91-118.
    9. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2016. "Factoryless goods producers in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 9-15.
    10. Cardullo, Gabriele & Conti, Maurizio & Sulis, Giovanni, 2015. "Sunk capital, unions and the hold-up problem: Theory and evidence from cross-country sectoral data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 253-274.
    11. Zhang, Yijun & Li, Xiaoping & Song, Yi & Jiang, Feitao, 2021. "Can green industrial policy improve total factor productivity? Firm-level evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 51-62.
    12. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2022. "Union Membership Peaks in Midlife," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(1), pages 124-151, March.
    13. Michael Storper & Lena Levinas & Alejandro Mercado-Celis, 2007. "Society, Community, and Development: A Tale of Two Regions," Post-Print hal-01053957, HAL.
    14. Jonathan E. Booth & John W. Budd & Kristen M. Munday, 2010. "Never Say Never? Uncovering the Never‐Unionized in the United States," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 26-52, March.
    15. Ian Kessler & Paul Heron & Sue Dopson, 2013. "Indeterminacy and the Regulation of Task Allocation: The Shape of Support Roles in Healthcare," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 310-332, June.
    16. Amoroso, S., 2013. "Heterogeneity of innovative, collaborative, and productive firm-level processes," Other publications TiSEM f5784a49-7053-401d-855d-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. A Charlwood, 2003. "The Anatomy of Union Decline in Britain: 1990-1998," CEP Discussion Papers dp0601, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2005. "Who Are the Workers Who Never Joined a Union? Empirical Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 1658, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke & Lutz Bellmann, 2013. "The Extent of Collective Bargaining and Workplace Representation: Transitions between States and their Determinants. A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Great Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 182-209, May.
    20. Cyprien Batut & Ulysse Lojkine & Paolo Santini, 2021. "Which side are you on? A historical perspective on union membership composition in four European countries," Working Papers halshs-03364022, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

    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:hit:hituec:770. 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: Hiromichi Miyake (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iehitjp.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.