IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hit/piecis/510.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does downsizing take a toll on retained staff? An analysis of increased working hours during recessions using Japanese micro data

Author

Listed:
  • Genda, Yuji
  • Kuroda, Sachiko
  • Ohta, Souichi

Abstract

Using official household micro data from the Labour Force Survey, this paper examines the increase in the working hours of regular male employees in Japan under recession from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The most important findings of this paper are that working hours tended to be longer among male regular employees of firms in which (1) there was major employment adjustment, (2) substantial increase in proportion of non-regular workers, and (3) wide variance in regular wages. The results suggest that the existence of a large amount of fixed duties that are necessary to maintain internal organization and transition from the traditional employment system are the main factors that explain the increase in the working hours during the recession in Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • Genda, Yuji & Kuroda, Sachiko & Ohta, Souichi, 2011. "Does downsizing take a toll on retained staff? An analysis of increased working hours during recessions using Japanese micro data," PIE/CIS Discussion Paper 510, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:piecis:510
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/18992/pie_dp510.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katharine G. Abraham & Susan N. Houseman, 1993. "Job Security and Work Force Adjustment: How Different are U.S. and Japanese Practices?," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Christopher F. Buechtemann (ed.),Employment Security and Labor Market Behavior: Interdisciplinary Approaches and International Evidence, pages 180-199, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    2. Ono, Hiroshi, 2010. "Lifetime employment in Japan: Concepts and measurements," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Yuji Genda & Ayako Kondo & Souichi Ohta, 2010. "Long-Term Effects of a Recession at Labor Market Entry in Japan and the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(1).
    4. Ryo Kambayashi & Daiji Kawaguchi & Izumi Yokoyama, 2008. "Wage distribution in Japan, 1989-2003," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 41(4), pages 1329-1350, November.
    5. Hildreth, Andrew K. G. & Ohtake, Fumio, 1998. "Labor Demand and the Structure of Adjustment Costs in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 131-150, June.
    6. Yuji Genda, 1998. "Japan: Wage Differentials and Changes since the 1980s," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Toshiaki Tachibanaki (ed.), Wage Differentials, chapter 2, pages 35-71, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Hashimoto, Masanori & Raisian, John, 1985. "Employment Tenure and Earnings Profiles in Japan and the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 721-735, September.
    8. Bell, Linda A. & Freeman, Richard B., 2001. "The incentive for working hard: explaining hours worked differences in the US and Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 181-202, May.
    9. Kato, Takao, 2001. "The End of Lifetime Employment in Japan?: Evidence from National Surveys and Field Research," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 489-514, December.
    10. Mincer, Jacob & Higuchi, Yoshio, 1988. "Wage structures and labor turnover in the United States and Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 97-133, June.
    11. Kuroda, Sachiko, 2010. "Do Japanese Work Shorter Hours than before? Measuring trends in market work and leisure using 1976-2006 Japanese time-use survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 481-502, December.
    12. Rebick, Marcus, 2005. "The Japanese Employment System: Adapting to a New Economic Environment," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199247240.
    13. Landers, Renee M & Rebitzer, James B & Taylor, Lowell J, 1996. "Rat Race Redux: Adverse Selection in the Determination of Work Hours in Law Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 329-348, June.
    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. Genda, Yuji & Kuroda, Sachiko & Ohta, Souichi, 2015. "Does downsizing take a toll on retained staff? An analysis of increased working hours in the early 2000s in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-24.
    2. Kubo, Katsuyuki & Saito, Takuji, 2012. "The effect of mergers on employment and wages: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 263-284.
    3. Ohta, Souichi, 2019. "Some evidence on the cohort earnings differentials of men in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 113-125.
    4. Sebastien Lechevalier & Cyrille Dossougoin & Christophe Hurlin & Satoko Takaoka, 2014. "How did the Japanese Employment System Change?Investigating the Heterogeneity of Downsizing Practices across Firms," KIER Working Papers 883, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    5. Bognanno, Michael & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2013. "Trends in worker displacement penalties in Japan: 1991–2005," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 41-57.
    6. Kawaguchi, Daiji & Ueno, Yuko, 2013. "Declining long-term employment in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 19-36.
    7. Kawaguchi, Akira, 2015. "Internal labor markets and gender inequality: Evidence from Japanese micro data, 1990–2009," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 193-213.
    8. NAKABAYASHI, Masaki, 2011. "Extended Schooling and Internalized Training: Skill Elements Evolution of Blue-collar Workers in an Internal Labor Market," ISS Discussion Paper Series (series F) f157, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, revised Aug 2012.
    9. Ken Yamada & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2015. "The changing and unchanged nature of inequality and seniority in Japan," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(1), pages 129-153, March.
    10. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2011. "Schooling, employer learning, and internal labor market effect: Wage dynamics and human capital investment in the Japanese steel industry, 1930-1960s," MPRA Paper 30597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Masakatsu Okubo, 2015. "Earnings Dynamics and Profile Heterogeneity: Estimates from Japanese Panel Data," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 66(1), pages 112-146, March.
    12. Yannick Kalantzis & Ryo Kambayashi & Sébastien Lechevalier, 2012. "Wage and Productivity Differentials in Japan: The Role of Labor Market Mechanisms," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 26(4), pages 514-541, December.
    13. KURODA Sachiko & YAMAMOTO Isamu, 2011. "Firm's demand for work hours: Evidence from multi-country and matched firm-worker data," Discussion papers 11024, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Takaku, Reo, 2020. "Reversal pattern of health inequality: New evidence from a large-scale national survey in Japan," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(11), pages 1254-1262.
    15. Michael Waldman, 2012. "Theory and Evidence in Internal LaborMarkets [The Handbook of Organizational Economics]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    16. IKEUCHI Kenta & FUKAO Kyoji & Cristiano PERUGINI, 2021. "Establishment Size, Workforce Composition and the College Wage Gap in Japan," Discussion papers 21022, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Ken Yamada & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2012. "Changing Unchanged Inequality: Higher Education, Youth Population, and the Japan's Seniority Wages," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd12-243, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    18. MURATA Keiko & HORI Masahiro, 2019. "Causal Mechanisms of the Decline in Long-term Employment in Japan: Evidence from Long-run Panel Data (Japanese)," Discussion Papers (Japanese) 19028, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Ariga, Kenn & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2010. "Employment and wage adjustments at firms under distress in Japan: An analysis based upon a survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 213-235, June.
    20. HAMAAKI Junya & HORI Masahiro & MAEDA Saeko & MURATA Keiko, 2010. "Is the Japanese employment system degenerating? Evidence from the Basic Survey on Wage Structure," ESRI Discussion paper series 232, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    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:hit:piecis:510. 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: Digital Resources Section, Hitotsubashi University Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cihitjp.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.