2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
The Emerging Labor Regime in the East Asian New Energy Vehicles Industry
| Project/Area Number |
23K01770
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
HEIM Stephane 京都大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (30767900)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2027-03-31
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| Keywords | Electric vehicles / Working conditions / East Asia |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In 2023, I focused on the literature review of the working conditions in the automotive industry, and gathered data and statistics on the impact of the electrification and digitalization on the employment in East Asia. A fieldtrip in Aichi prefecture on July 31 and August 1st allowed me the test some working hypotheses. I could also conduce some investigations in South Korea, Belgium and Hungary. As a result, I understood that in Japan, due to the high reliance on hybrid electric vehicles, there is no radical changes in the working population. This is different from China, where working and employment conditions are precarious in the new battery industry.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
Though I planned to investigate the electric division of Toyota Motors in Japan and in China, this was not possible due to the highly politicized issue of electrification. With the growing industrial power and market shares of Chinese private firms, the automotive industry is under pressure nowadays, and most of the established carmakers are under pressure to keep their profitability. In such an environment, access to the Japanese and Chinese car and battery makers became pretty difficult, which in turn delayed my field research plan.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Due to the incapacity to launch a joint research with Toyota as initially planned, I have to redefine my research strategy. Thanks to a partnership with colleagues in China, I plan to jointly investigate the impact of the car digitalization on the working conditions in South China. Second, in Japan, rather than focusing solely on Toyota, I now plan to establish a research team that focuses on a pool of suppliers, covering battery makers and their second, third-tier suppliers.
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| Causes of Carryover |
令和5年度にソウル大学における労働者と労働組合に関する研究の資料調査と共同研究を行うが、そこで得られたデータ等は引き続き令和6年度も解析を行う。令和6年度の金額は減るものの、購入する書籍を精査し、雇用を効率よく行うことで金額を節約できる見込みであり、研究遂行上大きな問題はない。また、令和7年は工場、鉱業・精錬工場におけるブルーカラー労働者とホワイトカラー労働者の労働条件について、指標を用いて評価を行い、令和8年度はNEVへの移行に伴うデスクリリングのプロセスの存在の有無について理解することにより研究目的の達成を目指す。
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