| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2008: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In this study, we investigate what is the best measure of labor market pressure for predicting wage inflation in Japan. Principal components analysis is used to select a subset of independent variables from 11 labor market variables. The first component is interpreted as the active opening rate and the second component is interpreted as total hours worked. We estimate a standard Phillips curve for wage inflation that incorporates the active opening rate and total hours worked as regressors. We find that (hourly) real wage growth is positively related to the active opening rate and negatively related to total hours worked. The second component (representing total hours worked) may help explain why wage inflation has not risen substantially despite Japan experiencing high active opening rates in the mid-2000s, when both total hours worked and active opening rates increased. Although higher active opening rates put upward pressure on real wage growth, this upward pressure is offset by longer working hours, which tend to reduce (hourly) real wage growth.
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