A Macrocounterfactual Analysis of Group Differences: An application to an analysis of the gender wage gap in Japan

This paper introduces a new method for a statistical simulation of macrosocietal counterfactual situations. In particular, this method is concerned with decomposing group differences in the mean of a variable into various within-group and between-group components with respect to group categories of intermediary variables. In modeling counterfactual situations, I juxtapose two different mechanisms, the mechanism of realizing the counterfactual state that deviates least from the existing state, and the mechanism of holding other irrelevant-to-counterfactual relations of variables unchanged, and demonstrate that despite the big difference in the mechanisms, the two counterfactual models generally yield highly consistent outcomes. As an illustrative example, the paper analyzes gender inequality in hourly wages in Japan and thereby demonstrates the usefulness of the new method for deriving policy implications.

Tribological behavior of RH ceramics made from rice husk sliding against stainless steel, alumina, silicon carbide, and silicon nitride

AbstractThe tribological behavior of rice husk (RH) ceramics, a hard, porous carbon material made from rice husk, sliding against stainless steel, alumina, silicon carbide, and silicon nitride (Si3N4) under dry conditions was investigated. High hardness of RH ceramics was obtained from the polymorphic crystallinity of silica. The friction coefficients for RH ceramics disks sliding against Si3N4 balls were extremely low (<0.1), irrespective of contact pressure or sliding velocity. Transfer films from RH ceramics formed on Si3N4 balls. Wear-mode maps indicated that the wear modes were powder formation under all tested conditions, resulting in low specific wear rates (<5×10−9mm2/N)

A Way to Resolve the Gender Inequality in Wage: Economic irrationality of statistical discrimination (Japanese)

This paper analyzes gender inequality in hourly wage that is still quite sizable in Japan. It does so first by breaking down the gender wage gap to its components: the gap within each type of employment, the gap arising from the gender difference in the distribution of employment types, and the gap arising from the gender difference in the age distribution of employees. I observe that gender wage gap among full-time regular employees is the largest contributing factor to this inequality, and discuss that at the root of this there is a problem of statistical discrimination against women based on a high rate of their job separations. I explain why the statistical discrimination has been continuing in Japan and identify four specific reasons why this does not have economic rationality for companies. Through these analyses, I show the way to promote gender equity in economic activity in Japan by eliminating the statistical discrimination through rational choices.

The Realities and Changes of "Lifetime Employment": Trends from 1945 to 1995 (Japanese)

Considering lifetime employment as a worker's continuous employment with a single employer from hiring to retirement and focusing on men with employment experience, this paper analyzes realities of such employment and changes that occurred during the period 1945 to 1995. Specifically, this paper analyzes (1) the hazard rate for leaving or changing the first full-time employer and the probability of lifetime employment (probability of not leaving or changing the employer before retirement), (2) changes in employment that occur between the first job and the job held at age 30, and (3) the hazard rate for leaving or changing the employer regarding the job held at age 30 and the probability of lifetime employment after that time. It presents theories and hypotheses for each of these analyses and, based on the results, clarifies the determinants of lifetime employment and its changes over time.

Firms are Creating Negative Stereotypes of Female Employees: Theoretical analyses of two kinds of self-fulfilling prophecies and their counter measures (Japanese)

This paper strengthens theoretical grounds to argue that the cause of certain negative stereotypes that many managers in Japan have toward female employees is not the fault of female employees themselves but the result of employers' choice to generate self-fulfilling prophecies of such stereotypes. Examples of these stereotypes include: "It is useless to invest in women because they will resign when they marry or have children" and "In comparison to men, women are less productive and less motivated to improve the quality of their work." The paper also discusses ways to break the mechanism of those self-fulfilling prophecies. Regarding the high rate of resignation for women, the theory introduced in this paper becomes an extension/application of Gary Becker's theory on the self-fulfilling prophecy of divorce. Regarding low productivity, the analysis relies on Coate and Loury's game-theoretic model of statistical discrimination, but it extends the model by providing two new solutions for breaking the self-fulfilling prophecy. The paper also analyzes different situations for which the original assumptions of Coate-and-Loury's theory are modified to reflect employment situations in Japan. Through these analyses, this paper discusses what should be considered important when promoting gender equality in economic activities.

The Over-employment of Regular Employees and their Work-family Conflict (Japanese)

This paper theoretically and statistically analyzes the determinants of over-employment among regular employees in Japan. In addition, this paper clarifies the determinants of work-family conflict among them and in particular its association with over-employment. The analysis clarifies that female mangers/administrators and female salaried professionals are experiencing the greatest difficulty in attaining work-life balance. Regarding the analysis on work-family conflict, we analyze the determinants of the WIF measure that reflects the extent to which "work roles are interfering with family roles," and the FIW measure that reflects the extent to which "family roles are interfering with work roles." While the analysis generally shows that work environments affect the WIF measure and family environments affect the FIW measure, it shows in particular that over-employment and a lack of workplace flexibility strongly affect the WIF measure beyond the influence of work hours.

True Relationship Between Female Labor Force Participation and Total Fertility Rate: An Analysis of OECD Countries (Japanese)

It is well known that the relationship between the female labor force participation rate (FLPR) and the total fertility rate (TFR) shifted from a negative correlation (countries with higher FLPR have lower TFR) to a positive one (countries with higher FLPR have higher TFR) among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the 1980s. However, it has yet to be determined whether this means that the causal relationship between these two variables itself has changed or other factors caused the shift in the correlation. This paper shows that the causal relationship between FLPR and TFR in the OECD countries remains negative on average when unobservable fertility determinants inherent to each country are taken into account and controlled by the country-specific fixed effects, but changes in the social environment surrounding married employed women, i.e. enhancement in balancing work and family life, or increased work-family friendliness, from the 1980s onward have weakened this negative correlation through the following two mechanisms: 1) the interaction effect between FLPR and work-family friendliness on fertility rate, combined with an increase in the work-family friendliness, and 2) an increase in the indirect positive effect of FLPR that partially offsets - by way of association with work-family friendliness - the direct negative effect of FLPR. The paper also discusses the implications of these facts vis-a-vis Japan's policy measures to counter below-replacement fertility.

Marital Satisfaction and Work-Life Balance: A Viewpoint Indispensable to Mitigating Fertility Decline (Japanese)

This paper seeks to show that: 1) wives' marital satisfaction and their confidence in their husbands' ability to provide emotional support and financial security, a major component of marital satisfaction, affect their desire to give birth; and 2) wives' marital satisfaction and their confidence in their husbands - though also subject to the influence of household economic conditions such as the husband's income, household assets, and husband's unemployment - are far more affected by the way in which a married couple budgets its time, such as hours spent in companionship and for conversation between husband and wife, and husband's share in childrearing. Based on the results of the analysis, the paper discusses specific measures to achieve work-life balance that enhances wives' marital satisfaction.

The Declining Fertility Rate at the Below-Replacement Level: Determining Factors and Countermeasures - The Roles of Husbands, Workplaces, the Government and Society (Japanese)

Demographers have concluded that Japan's declining fertility rate at the below-replacement level is mainly propelled by delayed marriage or non-marriage. These factors also apply to other countries that have experienced sharply declining fertility rates, such as Korea and southern European nations. Compared to households in the U.S. or western Europe, however, in Japan and these other countries which experienced a rapid decline in fertility rate, wives have a major share of household work and child-rearing, "family-friendly" work environments are underdeveloped, and women face high barriers to reentry into labor force after leaving their jobs for child care. The decline in fertility rate is also affected by such social environments that surround married women in these countries. This paper analyzes data from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers' Lives conducted by the Institute for Research on Household Economics to clarify what impacts social environments - such as the household and the workplace - has on birth desire and birth behavior among married women. Based on the results of this analysis, the paper discusses what roles that husbands, workplaces, the government, and local communities should play in order to mitigate the current rapid decline in the fertility rate.