2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study on the Historical Development of the Labor Market Structure and Recruitment Management in Japan
| Project/Area Number |
13630095
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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 |
Economic history
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| Research Institution | Tohoku-Gakuin University |
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Principal Investigator |
SUGAYAMA Shinji Tohoku Gakuin University, Department of Economics, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (00202127)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | the labor marker for new school graduates / institutional linkage between schools and firms / Chuo Shokugyo Shokai Jimukyoku (Central Bureau of Labor Exchanges) / regular hiring practices / in-house training system / sagyocho system (foreman system) |
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| Research Abstract |
The Basic Survey of Wage Structure defines the "standard" employee as "an employee who finds employment immediately after graduation, and remains with that same firm." The category of "standard employee" reflects a common perception of the standard occupational career in contemporary Japanese society. According to this view, shushoku (finding a job) in Japan is defined as a critical decision in an individuals occupational life, which is made only once, and upon graduation. When, how, and why did the common perception emerge?
To answer this question, this study investigates the historical development of the labor market structure in Japan, paying attention to the role of recruitment management of firms. First, I explore how and why the labor market of new school graduate came to be institutionalized through the analysis of the labor market for white-collar workers in the interwar period. Second, I explore the development of regular hiring practices of blue-collar workers in the postwar period, with a special reference to Yawata Steel. There is a scarcity of in-depth research in this field. Many business historians have explained the development of regular hiring as a managerial strategy, aiming to create a firm-internal labor market. I however clarify that the development of regular hiring practices was not a mere managerial strategy, but resulted from ad hoc responses to the changing structure of the labor market, specifically for new high school graduates.
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