The Historical Study on the Change of the Payment Systems in Japan

本研究的目的是通过观察日本主要公司支付系统的发展来描述和分析劳资关系。观察的重点是回顾所谓的“基于能力的支付系统”如何以及为什么在“蓝领工人”中如此受欢迎。我接手了JUJO造纸株式会社和八幡制钢株式会社（现为新日铁）的案例。简单地说，他们经历了类似的变化，比如以资历为基础的变化，以工作为导向的变化，以能力为导向的变化。这种变化与20世纪60年代至70年代初激烈的工资争论焦点的变化相对应。在完成了这两家公司的实地考察后，我发现以下三点很重要。1. 战后日本工龄工资制度的本质弱点在于，在“蓝领”和“白领”地位平等之后，员工的等级秩序不是建立在劳动的差异上，而是建立在家庭生活的需要上。因此，20世纪50年代为克服工龄工资制度的缺陷而进行的管理试验，是为了在员工之间建立民主的、不受身份限制的秩序。管理层是选择以岗位为导向还是以能力为导向，取决于他们的战略思想。2. 虽然在20世纪60年代，包括JUJO和YAHATA在内的大部分大型制造企业都在努力提高工资中工作费率的比例，但在20世纪70年代，这些工作费率的要素变成了“能力”支付。这一重要的变化是对更有效地利用劳动力的需求所必需的，这对实现降低成本和提高质量至关重要。;3. 为了清楚地了解工会是否阻碍了这些发展，我们需要进一步的案例研究。

The purpose of this study is to depict and analyse the indusrial relations by observing the developments of the payment systems in major Japanese companies. The focus of observation is to review how and why the so-called "abilty-based payment systems" have become so popular even among the 'blue collar workers". I picked up the cases of JUJO paper manufacturing Co. Ltd. and Yahata steel Co. Ltd. (currently Nippon Steel). Very simply speaking, they experienced similar change like seniority based one->job oriented one->ability oriented one. This type of change corresponds to the change of focuses of the feverish debates on wages during 1960s and early 70s.Having finished the field work of those two companies, I found the following three points important. 1. The essential weakness of seniority wages in post war Japan lay in the fact that the hierarchal order of employees after equalization of status between 'blue' and 'white" collars was built not on the differenes of labor but on the needs of family life. The manegerial trials to overcome the defects of seniority wages in 1950s, therefore, was an effort to build a democratic and status-free order among employees. Whether the management chose the job-based order or the ability-based order depended on their strategical thought. 2. Although the most of big manufacturing companies including JUJO and YAHATA made efforts to have a bigger portion of job rates in the wages in 1960s, , those elements of job rates changed into the 'ability-based" payment in 1970s. This important change was necessiated by the demand for more efficient utilization of labor which was vital to achieve cost reduction and high quality Further. ; 3. To have a clear picture of whether the unions hindered these developments or not we need futher case studies.