[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/epa/cepawp/1998-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Foreign Trade and Men and Women's Employment and Earnings in Germany and Japan

Author

Listed:
Abstract
This paper provides an empirical analysis of the effects of foreign trade expansion on men and women's employment and earnings in Germany and Japan since the early-1970s. The analysis is prompted by trade studies identifying manufacturing industries appearing most vulnerable to foreign trade, industries in which German and Japanese women are disproportionately represented. Evidence is found that foreign trade expansion had a more adverse effect on women's than men's manufacturing employment in Japan and a more equal effect in Germany. In spite of this, demand shifted away from women's employment in Germany after the early-1970s, for both the manufacturing sector as a whole and for manufacturing industries with high female percentages of employment. No such demand shifts occurred in Japan. In the face of these differences in demand and of remarkable similarity in female labor supply, male-female wage differences narrowed in Germany and widened in Japan, for both manufacturing and non-agricultural employees. These diverging patterns of male-female wage differences are explained by the more marginal basis on which Japanese women were integrated into the workforce, reflected in the character of women's part-time and temporary employment as well as union representation. To some extent, the more marginal basis on which Japanese women were integrated into the workforce resulted from the explicit policies of Japanese firms, referred to as "Operation Scale-Down" (genryo keiei). In Germany, too, the character of women's integration into the workforce appears to result in part from explicit policies undertaken by The Federation of German Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund), the largest German federation of unions.

Suggested Citation

  • David Kucera, 1998. "Foreign Trade and Men and Women's Employment and Earnings in Germany and Japan," SCEPA working paper series. 1998-17, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School, revised Aug 1998.
    • Handle: RePEc:epa:cepawp:1998-17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/scepa/publications/workingpapers/1998/cepa0109.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lawrence F. Katz & Gary W. Loveman & David G. Blanchflower, 1995. "A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages in Four OECD Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 25-66, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Paul Davidson & Jan A. Kregel (ed.), 1997. "Improving the Global Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1203.
    3. Susan N. Houseman & Machiko Osawa, "undated". "Part-Time and Temporary Employment in Japan," Upjohn Working Papers snh19953, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    4. Tsuneo Ono, 1990. "The Maturing of the Labor-Management Relationship and a Macroeconomic Analysis of Wage Change," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 65-91.
    5. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence Kahn, 1995. "The Gender Earnings Gap: Some International Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 105-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1995. "Differences and Changes in Wage Structures," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free95-1.
    7. Richard B. Freeman, 1994. "Working Under Different Rules," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free94-1.
    8. Susan N. Houseman, "undated". "Part-Time Employment in Europe and Japan," Upjohn Working Papers snh19952, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    9. Tachibanaki, Toshiaki, 1987. "Labour market flexibility in Japan in comparison with Europe and the U.S," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 647-678, April.
    10. Tachibanaki, Toshiaki, 1982. "Further Results on Japanese Wage Differentials: Nenko Wages, Hierarchical Position, Bonuses, and Working Hours," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 23(2), pages 447-461, June.
    11. repec:aei:rpbook:52903 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hashimoto, Mansanori, 1993. "Aspects of Labor Market Adjustments in Japan," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 136-161, January.
    13. Gary Burtless, 1995. "International Trade and the Rise in Earnings Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 800-816, June.
    14. Freeman, Richard B. & Katz, Lawrence F. (ed.), 1995. "Differences and Changes in Wage Structures," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261607, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Kucera, 2001. "Foreign Trade of Manufactures and Men and Women's Employment and Earnings in Germany and Japan," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 129-149.
    2. David Kucera, 1998. "Unemployment and External and Internal Labor Market Flexibility: A Comparative View of Europe, Japan, and the United States," SCEPA working paper series. 1998-21, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    3. Lindert, Peter H., 2000. "Three centuries of inequality in Britain and America," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 167-216, Elsevier.
    4. Peter Kuhn (McMaster), "undated". "Labour Market Polarization: Canada in International Perspective," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 02, McMaster University.
    5. Eva Sierminska, 2004. "Female Income Differentials and Social Benefits: A Four Country Comparison," LIS Working papers 377, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2003. "Understanding International Differences in the Gender Pay Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 106-144, January.
    7. Christian Grund, 1998. "Zur Verteilung der Arbeitseinkommen in Westdeutschland," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 67(1), pages 30-40.
    8. Jeff Borland, 2000. "Economic Explanations of Earnings Distribution Trends in the International Literature and Application to New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 00/16, New Zealand Treasury.
    9. Spilimbergo, Antonio & Londono, Juan Luis & Szekely, Miguel, 1999. "Income distribution, factor endowments, and trade openness," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 77-101, June.
    10. Eli Berman, 2000. "Does Factor-Biased Technological Change Stifle International Covergence? Evidence from Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 7964, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. John T. Addison & Douglas A. Fox & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Technology, Trade Sensitivity, and Labor Displacement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(3), pages 682-699, January.
    12. Antonio Spilimbergo & Juan Luis Londoño & Miguel Székely, 1997. "Distribución del ingreso, dotación de factores y apertura comercial," Research Department Publications 4089, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. Siebert, Horst, 1997. "Labor market rigidities and unemployment in Europe," Kiel Working Papers 787, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    14. John T. Addison & Douglas A. Fox & Christopher J. Ruhm, 1996. "Trade Sensitivity, Technology, and Labor Displacement," NBER Working Papers 5621, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Anna Sabadash, 2013. "ICT-induced Technological Progress and Employment: A Literature Review," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2013-07, Joint Research Centre.
    16. Blau Francine D & Kahn Lawrence M, 2007. "The Gender Pay Gap," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 4(4), pages 1-6, June.
    17. Horst Siebert, 1997. "Labor Market Rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 37-54, Summer.
    18. Gil Mehrez & Natacha Valla, 1998. "EMU: What if the Shocks are in the Labor Markets?," International Finance 9803001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. J. Mullen & Stephen Nord & Martin Williams, 2005. "Regional Skill Structure and the Diffusion of Technology," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(1), pages 115-131, March.
    20. Anna Sabadash, 2013. "ICT-induced Technological Progress and Employment: a Happy Marriage or a Dangerous Liaison? A Literature Review," JRC Research Reports JRC76143, Joint Research Centre.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign trade; employment; earnings; Germany; Japan; manufacturing; gender; unions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:epa:cepawp:1998-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bridget Fisher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cenewus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.