We examine a number of personnel practices, laws and regulations that lower the supply of labor in the Japanese economy. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of impediments, those that restrict the movement of labor between firms, and those that discourage women from participating to a greater...

This paper seeks to understand the recent decline of union density in Japan from 35% in 1975 to 28% in 1987. The decline in density is analyzed in terms of the changing proportion of workers in high and low unionization groups and the changes in density within those groups. Then using a...