IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2012-248.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can Women Save Japan?

Author

Listed:
  • Mr. Chad Steinberg
  • Mr. Masato Nakane

Abstract

Japan's potential growth rate is steadily falling with the aging of its population. This paper explores the extent to which raising female labor participation can help slow this trend. Using a cross-country database we find that smaller families, higher female education, and lower marriage rates are associated with much of the rise in women's aggregate participation rates within countries over time, but that policies are likely increasingly important for explaining differences across countries. Raising female participation could provide an important boost to growth, but women face two hurdles in participating in the workforce in Japan. First, few working women start out in career-track positions, and second, many women drop out of the workforce following childbirth. To increase women’s attachment to work Japan should consider policies to reduce the gender gap in career positions and to provide better support for working mothers.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Chad Steinberg & Mr. Masato Nakane, 2012. "Can Women Save Japan?," IMF Working Papers 2012/248, International Monetary Fund.
  • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2012/248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=40048
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Florence Jaumotte, 2003. "Female Labour Force Participation: Past Trends and Main Determinants in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 376, OECD Publishing.
    2. Nawata, Kazumitsu & Ii, Masako, 2004. "Estimation of the labor participation and wage equation model of Japanese married women by the simultaneous maximum likelihood method," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-315, September.
    3. Atsuko Ueda, 2007. "A Dynamic Decision Model Of Marriage, Childbearing, And Labour Force Participation Of Women In Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 58(4), pages 443-465, December.
    4. Masaru Sasaki, 2002. "The Causal Effect of Family Structure on Labor Force Participation among Japanese Married Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(2), pages 429-440.
    5. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2007. "A market test for sex discrimination: Evidence from Japanese firm-level panel data," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 441-460, June.
    6. Elina Pylkkänen & Nina Smith, 2003. "Career Interruptions Due to Parental Leave: A Comparative Study of Denmark and Sweden," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 1, OECD Publishing.
    7. Yoshio Higuchi & Jane Waldfogel & Masahiro Abe, 1999. "Family leave policies and women's retention after childbirth: Evidence from the United States, Britain, and Japan," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 523-545.
    8. Daiji Kawaguchi & Ken Yamada, 2007. "The Impact Of The Minimum Wage On Female Employment In Japan," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(1), pages 107-118, January.
    9. Erling Rasmussen & Jens Lind & Jelle Visser, 2004. "Divergence in Part‐Time Work in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Denmark," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 637-658, December.
    10. Eiko Kenjoh, 2005. "New Mothers’ Employment and Public Policy in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(s1), pages 5-49, December.
    11. Siv S. Gustafsson & Eiko Kenjoh & Cécile M. M. P. Wetzels, 2002. "Postponement of Maternity and the Duration of Time Spent at Home after First Birth: Panel Data Analyses Comparing Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 59, OECD Publishing.
    12. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2006. "Employment Patterns in OECD Countries: Reassessing the Role of Policies and Institutions," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 35, OECD Publishing.
    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. Gunji, Hiroshi & Miyazaki, Kenji, 2017. "Why do Japanese women work so much less than Japanese men? A business cycle accounting approach," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 45-55.
    2. Anna Matysiak & Dorota Węziak-Białowolska, 2016. "Country-Specific Conditions for Work and Family Reconciliation: An Attempt at Quantification," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 475-510, October.
    3. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & Mary Beth Walker, 2011. "To work or not to work: the economics of a mother's dilemma," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2011-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    4. Joanna Osiñska, 2013. "Postawy wzglêdem euro i ich determinanty– przegl¹d badañ i literatury przedmiotu," Working Papers 70, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    5. Julie Hotchkiss & M. Pitts & Mary Walker, 2011. "Labor force exit decisions of new mothers," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 397-414, September.
    6. Abe, Yukiko, 2011. "Family labor supply, commuting time, and residential decisions: The case of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 49-63, March.
    7. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & Mary Beth Walker, 2010. "Assessing the impact of education and marriage on labor market exit decisions of women," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2010-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    8. C. Spiess & Katharina Wrohlich, 2008. "The Parental Leave Benefit Reform in Germany: Costs and Labour Market Outcomes of Moving towards the Nordic Model," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 27(5), pages 575-591, October.
    9. Tomoko Kishi, 2014. "Female Labour Supply in Australia and Japan: The Effects of Education and Qualifications," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 17(3), pages 233-255.
    10. Chiara Pronzato, 2009. "Return to work after childbirth: does parental leave matter in Europe?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 341-360, December.
    11. Kozo Kiyota & Sawako Maruyama, 2018. "On the Demand for Female Workers in Japan: The Role of ICT and Offshoring," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 25-46, Summer.
    12. Julia Bredtmann & Jochen Kluve & Sandra Schaffner, 2013. "Mothers' Transitions into the Labor Market under Two Political Systems: Comparing East and West Germany before Reunification," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 133(3), pages 375-408.
    13. Toshihiro Ihori & Ryuta Ray Kato & Masumi Kawade & Shun-ichiro Bessho, 2009. "Spousal Tax Deduction, Social Security System and the Labor Supply of Japanese Married Women," Working Papers EMS_2009_15, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    14. Yukiko Abe, 2016. "On the convergence in female participation rates," ERSA conference papers ersa16p473, European Regional Science Association.
    15. Jérôme De Henau & Leila Maron & Danièle Meulders & Sile Padraigin O'Dorchai, 2007. "Travail et maternité en Europe: conditions de travail et politiques publiques," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 63-88.
    16. Marit Rønsen & Ragni Hege Kitterød, 2012. "Entry into work following childbirth among mothers in Norway. Recent trends and variation," Discussion Papers 702, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    17. Angela Cipollone & Carlo D'Ippoliti, 2009. "Women's Employment: Beyond Individual Characteristics vs. Contextual Factors Explanations," Working Papers CELEG 0901, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli.
    18. Benjamin U. Friedrich & Martin B. Hackmann, 2017. "The Returns to Nursing: Evidence from a Parental Leave Program," NBER Working Papers 23174, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Abe, Yukiko, 2018. "Effects of demographic compositional changes on the convergence of female participation rates," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 97-104.
    20. Sebastian Barnes & Romain Bouis & Philippe Briard & Sean Dougherty & Mehmet Eris, 2013. "The GDP Impact of Reform: A Simple Simulation Framework," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 834, OECD Publishing.

    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:imf:imfwpa:2012/248. 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: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.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.