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...

Conventional theory predicts that productivity gains lead to pay hikes. Pay increases, however, can influence labor productivity. But what about the case of a corporatist economy, in which wage setting is highly coordinated? With corporatist cooperation between unions and management, is pay...