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Declining long-term employment in Japan

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  • Kawaguchi, Daiji
  • Ueno, Yuko

Abstract

This paper documents the secular decline of average job tenure in Japan based on microdata from two representative government surveys: the household-based Employment Status Survey (ESS) and the establishment-based Basic Survey on Wage Structure (BSWS). Male workers born in 1970 have experienced about 20% fewer years of job tenure than those born in 1944 at a given age, based on an analysis of ESS data. The decline of the long-term employment relationship is uniformly observed across firm sizes and industries. Among job changers, the fraction of voluntary job changes, as well as that of job changes associated with wage increase, has been stable.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:28:y:2013:i:c:p:19-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jjie.2013.01.005
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    4. 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).
    5. 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.
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    10. Hideaki Aoyama & Corrado Guilmi & Yoshi Fujiwara & Hiroshi Yoshikawa, 2022. "Dual labor market and the “Phillips curve puzzle”: the Japanese experience," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 1419-1435, November.
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    13. Hideaki Aoyama & Corrado Di Guilmi & Yoshi Fujiwara & Hiroshi Yoshikawa, 2021. "Dual Labor Market and the "Phillips Curve Puzzle"," Papers 2103.06482, arXiv.org.
    14. KAWAGUCHI Daiji & MORI Yuko, 2014. "Winning the Race against Technology," Discussion papers 14017, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Franklin Soriano & Ruel Abello, 2015. "Modelling the relationships between the use of STEM* skills, collaboration, R&D and Innovation among Australian Businesses," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(3), pages 345-374.
    16. Izumi Yokoyama & Takuya Obara, 2017. "Optimal combination of wage cuts and layoffs—the unexpected side effect of a performance-based payment system," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Mika Akesaka & Koyo Miyoshi, 2018. "Wage Inequality during the Long-term Stagnation in Japan: Changes within and between Establishments," ISER Discussion Paper 1045, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    18. Junya Kumagai & Mihoko Wakamatsu & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Do commuters adapt to in-vehicle crowding on trains?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2357-2399, October.
    19. Ayako Kondo, 2024. "Scars of the job market “ice-age”," Social Science Japan Journal, University of Tokyo and Oxford University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 133-148.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic stagnation; Human capital; Implicit contract; Long-term employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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