IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v50y1996i1p39-59.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commitment, Quits, and Work Organization in Japanese and U.S. Plants

Author

Listed:
  • James R. Lincoln
  • Arne L. Kalleberg

Abstract

This comparative analysis, using early 1980s data from management interviews, employee questionnaire surveys, and personnel office employment records in 41 manufacturing plants in Japan and 45 in the United States, explores how employee commitment to the firm is shaped by organizational structure, employment practice, and other attributes of factories. The authors investigate both behavioral and attitudinal dimensions of commitment, measured respectively by quit records and survey responses. The results for both dimensions generally support the model of “welfare corporatism†as a commitment-maximizing organizational form in Japanese and American industrial capitalism. Qualifying that conclusion, however, are several noteworthy differences between the countries: unionization, formal work rules, and on-the-job training, for example, appear to have negative effects on the commitment of U.S. workers that are absent in Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • James R. Lincoln & Arne L. Kalleberg, 1996. "Commitment, Quits, and Work Organization in Japanese and U.S. Plants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(1), pages 39-59, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:50:y:1996:i:1:p:39-59
    DOI: 10.1177/001979399605000103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979399605000103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979399605000103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lazear, Edward P, 1979. "Why Is There Mandatory Retirement?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1261-1284, December.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 1980. "The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits, and Separations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(4), pages 643-673.
    3. Richard B. Freeman, 1980. "The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits," NBER Working Papers 0242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrew E. Clark, 2011. "The Organisational Commitment of Workers in OECD Countries," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 22(1), pages 8-27.
    2. Joseph M. Ng’ang’a & Dishon Wanjere & Robert K.W. Egessa, 2015. "Influence of Technical Training on Organizational Performance of Sugar Industry in the South Nyanza Zone of Kenya," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(9), pages 106-124, September.

    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. Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer & Jörg Heining, 2021. "Labor in the Boardroom," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 669-725.
    2. Booth, Alison L. & Zoega, Gylfi, 2003. "On the welfare implications of firing costs," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 759-775, November.
    3. Gagliardi, Nicola & Grinza, Elena & Rycx, François, 2021. "Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks? New Evidence on the Impact of Tenure on Productivity," GLO Discussion Paper Series 852, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2439-2483 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Steven G. Allen & Robert L. Clark & Ann A. McDermed, 1991. "Pensions, Bonding, and Lifetime Jobs," NBER Working Papers 3688, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Hunt, Jennifer & Laszlo, Sonia, 2005. "Bribery: Who Pays, Who Refuses, What are the Payoffs?," CEPR Discussion Papers 5251, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Artz, Benjamin & Blanchflower, David G. & Bryson, Alex, 2022. "Unions increase job satisfaction in the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 173-188.
    8. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:1039-1089 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Paul J. Devereux & Burton A. Weisbrod, 2006. "Does “Satisfaction†with Local Public Services Affect Complaints (Voice) and Geographic Mobility (Exit)?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(2), pages 123-147, March.
    10. Jirjahn Uwe & Tsertsvadze Georgi, 2006. "Betriebsräte und Arbeitszufriedenheit / Works Councils and Job Satisfaction," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 226(5), pages 537-561, October.
    11. Pernilla Andersson Joona & Eskil Wadensjö, 2013. "The best and the brightest or the least successful? Self-employment entry among male wage-earners in Sweden," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 155-172, January.
    12. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2011. "Trade union membership and dismissals," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 810-821.
    13. Daniel Fackler & Claus Schnabel & Jens Stegmaier, 2024. "Personnel adjustments during the Covid-19 pandemic: did co-determination make a difference?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 58(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Marco Francesconi & Carlos García Serrano, 2004. "Unions, Temporary Employment and Hours of Work: A Tale of Two Countries," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 1, pages 38-75.
    15. Thomas Lemieux & W. Bentley MacLeod & Daniel Parent, 2009. "Performance Pay and Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 1-49.
    16. Leora Friedberg & Michael T. Owyang, 2004. "Explaining the evolution of pension structure and job tenure," Working Papers 2002-022, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    17. Henry S. Farber, 1984. "The Analysis of Union Behavior," NBER Working Papers 1502, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Simon Sturn, 2011. "Labour market regimes and unemployment in OECD countries," IMK Working Paper 6-2011, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    19. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2023. "Minimum Wage Non-compliance: The Role of Co-determination," IZA Discussion Papers 16621, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Christian Pfeifer, 2012. "The impact of industrial relations and wage structures on repayment agreements for employer-financed training," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(4), pages 3287-3297.
    21. García-Serrano, Carlos & Malo, Miguel A., 2009. "The impact of union direct voice on voluntary and involuntary absenteeism," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 372-383, March.
    22. Sukti DASGUPTA, 2002. "Attitudes towards trade unions in Bangladesh, Brazil, Hungary and Tanzania," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 141(4), pages 413-440, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:ilrrev:v:50:y:1996:i:1:p:39-59. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    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.