Industrial relations researchers have long recognized the importance of bargaining power in understanding wage settlements between labor and management. As an empirical matter it has been a challenge to develop measures of union bargaining power. Using a unique data set from Japan, this study...

Industrial relations researchers have long recognized the importance of bargaining power in understanding wage settlements between labor and management. As an empirical matter it has been a challenge to develop measures of union bargaining power. Using a unique data set from Japan, this study...

In the U.S. the relationship between hours worked and employee earnings has been reversed. Whereas the highest earners used to work the shortest hours, now they work the longest hours. This study examines whether such a reversal has occurred elsewhere, namely, Japan. Since the early 1990s the...

Conventional theory predicts that productivity gains lead to pay hikes. Pay increases, however, can influence labor productivity. But what about in a corporatist economy? Focusing on Germany, we use an innovative technique developed by Geweke to disentangle the relationship between pay and...

Japan is famous for long working hours. For decades the Japanese government has tried to influence how people spend their free time. In 5-yearly surveys since 1986, the government has surveyed "quality of life" by gauging how much time people spend daily in various "non-economic" activities....