There are a number of indications that Japanese job security laws have been relaxed since the end of the 1990s. The purpose of this paper is to establish causality between job security laws and firing costs in the Japanese labor market. The analysis first investigates when and how firing costs...

In this paper, we investigate the asymmetry of adjustment costs for labour. Using monthly data on Japanese industries, we estimate a model of dynamic labour demand that incorporates adjustment costs for hiring and firing workers, and for changing working hours. Our estimates suggest the...

Using monthly data on Japanese industries, we estimate a model of dynamic labour demand that incorporates adjustment costs for hiring and firing workers, and for changing working hours.