Effect of Work–Life Balance Practices on Firm Productivity: Evidence from Japanese Firm-Level Panel Data

This article examines how firm practices that could contribute to worker attainment of work–life balance (WLB) affect the total factor productivity (TFP) of a firm, by using panel data of Japanese firms from the 1990s. We observed a positive correlation between the WLB practices and TFP among sampled firms. However that correlation vanished when we controlled for the unobserved firm heterogeneity, and we found no general causal relationship in which WLB practices increase firm TFP in the medium or long run. For firms with the following characteristics, however, we found positive and sizable effects: large firms, manufacturing firms, and firms that have exhibited labor hoarding during recessions. Since these firms are likely to incur large fixed employment costs, we infer that firms investing in firm-specific human skills or having large hiring/firing costs can benefit from WLB practices through a decrease in turnover or increase in recruiting effectiveness.