The Effects of the Labor Market Regulation, the Tax and Social Security System on the Japanese Labor Market

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(1) An Empirical Analysis on the Employment Security in JapanAlthough Japanese firms have the long-term employment practices widely known as lifetime employment with high employment security, Japan does not have any legislation generally prohibiting dismissals without just cause. Restrictions on dismissals have been provided by case law. We empirically examined the stability of the case law on labor adjustment dismissal. We found that the uncertainty about the case law increased in the1990s.(2) An Economic Analysis on Employment PolicyWe analyzed the cause of the increase in the Japanese unemployment rate in the 1990s using UV analysis and Phillips curve. We discussed various employment policies under deflation including the revision of the unemployment insurance system and dismissal regulation.(3) Unions, Cost of Job Loss, and VacationI hypothesize that the presence or absence of a union affects the effectiveness of internal and external threats in reducing vacation. In particular, I argues that because unions reduce the potency of the internal and external threat of job loss (by making it more difficult for employers to dismiss workers), vacation is less responsive to such threats in union firms than in non-union firms. The results of analysis of data from the 1985 and 1993 General Surveys on Working Hours and Conditions in Japan support this hypothesis.(4) The Impacts of Computer Use on Wage StructureWe examine how much wages increases as workers begin using computer at work. We first find the existence of this computer wage premium when we use normal cross-sectional estimation. The computer premium is, however, diminished and statistically insignificant once controlled for individual unobserved ability utilizing information on the same individual over two periods.