Economists have long been interested in the seemingly cooperative nature of Japanese industrial relations. It has been hypothesized that information sharing in the wage-setting process has been used to promote efficiency. But have Japanese employers really paid efficiency wages, that is, can...

"Do job centers help unemployed people to find and keep jobs? Using the results of a unique survey by the Japanese government, this note examines the employment success of job center clients. Success in finding and keeping jobs varies systematically across distinct subgroups. Moreover, job...