1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Institutional and Quantitative Analysis of Labor Relations in Japanese Nonunion Firms
| Project/Area Number |
06803001
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
経済理論
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| Research Institution | The Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University |
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Principal Investigator |
TSURU Tsuyoshi Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi U.Professor, 経済研究所, 教授 (00155441)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1994 – 1996
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| Keywords | Labor Union / Nonunion Firms / Joint Consultation / Employee Associations |
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| Research Abstract |
1. Purpose This research compares intrafirm voice mechanisms and processes of determining working conditions in nonunion firms with those in union firms.
2. Methodology I conducted a sample survey of head managers of personnel departments in Japanese private sector firms. The survey was conducted within a 30 kilometer radius of Tokyo Station. The sample was 1,250 firms, and 516 firms responded, yielding a response rate of 41.3%.
3. Main Findings The quantitative analysis of the micro data reveals the following points. (1) Only 29% of the firms are unionized. In other words, a vast majority of the firms are now nonunion. (2) To communicate with employees, union firms make extensive use of both collective bargaining and joint consultation. (3) Nonunion firms, in contrast, utilize employee associations (63.6%) and joint consultation (24.6%). However, according to managerial evaluations, (a) middle management and employee workplace discussions and (b) meetings held to announce firm strategy functioned better than joint consultaions and employee associations. (4) Union firms induce greater employee voice regarding working conditions and management issues than their nonunion counterparts. However, the outcome of employee voice (in terms of separation rates) in union firms is no different than in nonunion firms.
4. Report I have summarized the main results in an article (Tsuyoshi Tsuru, "Intrafirm Communication and Wage Determination in Japanese Nonunion Firms, " The Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Discussion Paper A-327), and presented the paper at the 1996 annual meeting of the Japan Association of Economics and Econometrics, and at an international conference on the Japanese economy which was held in Paris in December 1996.
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