The Relative Bargaining Power of Employers and Unions in the Global Information Age : A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Japan

In this paper, we examine and compare the impact of American and Japanese labor law on the relative bargaining power of the labor and management within the context of the new global economy based on information technology. We begin by providing a simple economic definition of bargaining power and examining how it can be influenced by economic and legal factors. Next, we discuss the impact of new information technology and the global economy on the employment relationship and how this has decreased union bargaining power relative to management bargaining power. Finally, we compare various facets of American and Japanese labor law that have a significant impact on the parties' relative bargaining power and discuss how one might expect American and Japanese unions to fare in their negotiations with management in the new economic environment