Institutional and Quantitative Analysis of Labor Relations in Japanese Nonunion Firms

1. 本研究比较了非工会企业与工会企业在决定工作条件方面的内部话语权机制和过程。我对日本私营企业人事部门的首席经理进行了抽样调查。该调查是在东京站半径30公里范围内进行的。样本是1250家公司，有516家公司回应，回复率为41.3%。微观数据的定量分析揭示了以下几点。只有29%的公司成立了工会。换句话说，现在绝大多数公司都没有加入工会。(2)为了与员工沟通，工会企业广泛使用集体谈判和联合协商两种方式。(3)相比之下，非工会企业利用员工协会（63.6%）和联合咨询（24.6%）。然而，根据管理层的评价，(a)中层管理人员和员工的工作场所讨论和(b)召开会议宣布公司战略比联合协商和员工协会更好。(4)与非工会企业相比，工会企业在工作条件和管理问题上吸引了更大的员工发言权。然而，工会企业的员工声音的结果（就离职率而言）与非工会企业没有什么不同。报告一在一篇文章中总结了主要结果（Tsuyoshi Tsuru，“日本非工会企业的企业内部沟通和工资决定”，一桥大学经济研究所，讨论文件A-327），并在1996年日本经济与计量经济学协会年会和1996年12月在巴黎举行的日本经济国际会议上发表了这篇论文。

1. Purpose This research compares intrafirm voice mechanisms and processes of determining working conditions in nonunion firms with those in union firms.2. Methodology I conducted a sample survey of head managers of personnel departments in Japanese private sector firms. The survey was conducted within a 30 kilometer radius of Tokyo Station. The sample was 1,250 firms, and 516 firms responded, yielding a response rate of 41.3%.3. Main Findings The quantitative analysis of the micro data reveals the following points. (1) Only 29% of the firms are unionized. In other words, a vast majority of the firms are now nonunion. (2) To communicate with employees, union firms make extensive use of both collective bargaining and joint consultation. (3) Nonunion firms, in contrast, utilize employee associations (63.6%) and joint consultation (24.6%). However, according to managerial evaluations, (a) middle management and employee workplace discussions and (b) meetings held to announce firm strategy functioned better than joint consultaions and employee associations. (4) Union firms induce greater employee voice regarding working conditions and management issues than their nonunion counterparts. However, the outcome of employee voice (in terms of separation rates) in union firms is no different than in nonunion firms.4. Report I have summarized the main results in an article (Tsuyoshi Tsuru, "Intrafirm Communication and Wage Determination in Japanese Nonunion Firms, " The Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Discussion Paper A-327), and presented the paper at the 1996 annual meeting of the Japan Association of Economics and Econometrics, and at an international conference on the Japanese economy which was held in Paris in December 1996.