Crumbling Pillar? Declining Union Density in Japan

Richard Freeman and Marcus Rebick

No 2963, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper seeks to understand the recent decline of union density in Japan from 35% in 1975 to 28% in 1987. The decline in density is analyzed in terms of the changing proportion of workers in high and low unionization groups and the changes in density within those groups. Then using a stockflow relationship we look at how the organizing rate of new unions affects the overall density. A regression model assesses our interpretation of changes in Japanese density. Our principal findings are: (1) Structural shifts in the composition of employment and of the demographics of the work force account for only a modest proportion of the drop in Japanese density. As in the United States, most changes in density occur within industries and among defined demographic groups of workers. (2) Much of the decline in density is associated with the inability of Japanese unions to organize new establishments. We attribute this in part to lowered worker interest and stiffened management opposition to unionism following the oil shock, buttressed by unfavorable changes in the political and legal environment for collective bargaining and for union organization. and by other management actions, such as creating additional pseudomanagerial posts for older male workers.

Date: 1989-05
Note: LS
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Published as Freeman, Richard B. & Rebick, Marcus E., 1989. "Crumbling pillar? Declining union density in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 578-605, December.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w2963.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Crumbling pillar? Declining union density in Japan (1989)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2963

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w2963

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().