Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46174 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5463
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The Japanese lost decade has become an intriguing puzzle for both economists and policy-makers alike, as the unemployment rate climbed to unprecedented levels and the growth rate of productivity decreased considerably. More recent times seem to present with a more optimistic outlook, but this is not yet the last word in the matter. In this paper we estimate two alternative multi-equation structural models descriptive of the Japanese labor market, that are then used to conduct dynamic simulations both for the lost decade period (1990-2002) and beyond (2002-2007). Our results point, primarily, to the damaging effects of the ever-increasing public debt as a major source of labor market inefficiencies. In addition, we find the fall in labor union power to have a significant easing effect on the unemployment rate, but also to be a major driver in the apparently eroding pattern of the labor income share in recent years.
Subjects: 
labor market dynamics
structural multi-equation models
chain reaction theory
simulations
JEL: 
C32
E17
E24
J08
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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