Empirical Study on Foreign Workers in Japan and Japanese Workers Abroad

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13750
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Public finance/Public economy
• Research Institution: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (2018-2021); Kyushu University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Hashimoto Yuki 独立行政法人経済産業研究所, 研究グループ, 研究員 (30707675)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 外国人労働者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined the impact of foreign employment in industries and firms, considering that the impact of their increase is likely to be observed more strongly among industries and occupations where foreigners are concentrated. We found that firms clearly distinguish between highly skilled and unskilled foreigners and that both types of foreigners occupy very different positions in the Japanese labor market. In particular, manufacturing firms planning to hire less-skilled foreign workers were reluctant to invest in R&D and inclined toward labor-intensive production.

Free Research Field

労働経済

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

企業と労働者の労働需給の両方の観点から，日本の外国人雇用の特徴の一端を明らかにした。企業データの分析からは，雇用戦略・技術投資と外国人雇用の関係を明らかにした。労働者データの分析からは，外国人の人的資本や職業選択の特徴から，外国人労働者を通じてみえる日本の労働市場の質の変化の萌芽を明らかにした。