This paper 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...

Using information on Japanese, UK, and German workers' work hour and matched firms' characteristics, this paper investigates whether the number of hours worked is determined by demand-side factors, and tries to introduce one possibility to explain why Japanese tend to work longer hours than...

This paper examines how preferences on work hours would differ among Japanese, UK, and German workers by examining hypothetical questions in comparable multi-country surveys. Our findings are as follows: First, Japanese workers not only work longer hours but also prefer to work significantly...

Using Japanese longitudinal data from the Keio Household Panel Survey 2004-2010, this paper focuses on those who work involuntarily as non-regular workers because they could not secure jobs as regular employees. Our findings are as follows: First, the majority of non-regular workers are...

This paper uses a Japanese time use survey to examine how the timing of work in Japan has changed since the 1990s, focusing on changes in labor market regulation, open-hour legislation, and a huge negative demand shock that hit the economy from the early 1990s. We find a noteworthy increase in...

This paper examines how firms' policies for workers' work-life balance (WLB) affect total factor productivity (TFP) in the long run, by using panel data of Japanese firms from the 1990s. Although we observed a positive correlation between firms' WLB policies and their TFP, once controlling for...

In Japan, managers with the title of section chief and higher are exempt from an overtime regulation that requires employers to pay an overtime premium of 25 percent to hours worked above statutory work hours. Recently, there has been a series of discussions whether or not the range of the...

This paper overviews the situation of female employment in listed Japanese companies using firm-level panel data after the 2000s, and demonstrates whether those companies utilizing female employment earn higher profits. The estimation results of fixed effect models show that a higher female...

This paper examines the kind of company which utilizes female employees using panel data of Japanese companies. It is shown that companies with shorter work hours for typical regular employees, higher turnover rates, less steep wage curves and larger wage dispersion, and better work-life balance...

This paper examines the impact of overtime regulations on the hours worked and the hourly wages of Japanese white-collar employees. In Japan, managers with the title of section chief and higher are exempt from overtime regulations, like the white-collar exemption in the U.S. Recently in Japan,...