NBER Working Papers by Takao Kato

Using both quantitative data from national surveys and qualitative data from our own field research, this paper provides evidence on changes in participatory employment practices in Japan during the economic slowdown in the 1990s. Overall, consistent with the complementarity of such practices and the long-term nature of their effects, evidence points to the enduring nature of such practices (except for small to medium size firms with no union where we find evidence for management to try to weaken the role of employee participation). There are, however, a few early signs of trouble even for large, unionized firms, which might eventually result in the breakdown of the system if left untreated. First, while the number of full time union officials has been falling substantially as a result o...