Japanese Labor Market in a Comparative Perspective with the United States

This study offers a comparative analysis of a number of Japanese labor market features in relation to the U.S. The author examines employer-employee attachment, workforce adjustment, and industrial relations including 'unique' Japanese institutions such as joint consultation and consensus-based decision making. Hashimoto argues that cultural-traditional influences, which shape the transaction-cost environment, interacted with technological progress in shaping the various uniquely-Japanese labor market features.