Econometric Analysis of Irreversible Investment with Financial Constraints: Comparison of Parametric and Semiparametric Estimations

This analysis investigates irreversible investment with financial constraints by parametric and semiparametric estimations. The analysis examines four U.S. industries, employing a sample selection model as it develops its econometric model in accordance with real options theory. The analysis finds that liquidity positively affects capital investment, which is compatible with the theory. In addition, while investment is insensitive to sales revenue and operating costs, capital stock negatively affects investment. The analysis also finds that the sample selection bias is large and that a biased OLS estimator underestimates the coefficients of interest. The analysis' model selection is inconclusive.

Why Has the Fraction of Contingent Workers Increased? A Case Study of Japan

This paper explains the secular increase of contingent workers in Japan whose share of employment increased from 17 to 34 percent between 1986 and 2008. Changes in labor-forceand industrial compositions explain about one quarter of the increase of contingent workers. The uncertainty of product demand and the introduction of information and communication technologies increased firms' usage of contingent workers. The increase of contingent workers was concentrated among new entrants to the labor market, male workers of younger cohorts, and female workers of all cohorts, suggesting that the declining importance of the long-term employment relationship is a major cause for the increase of contingent workers.Contingent Workers, Female Labor Supply, Uncertainty, ICT, Japan

Why Has the Fraction of Contingent Workers Increased? A case study of Japan

The fraction of contingent workers among all workers in Japan increased from 17% in 1986 to some 34% in 2008. This paper investigates the reason for this secular trend. Both demand and supply increases of contingent workers relative to regular workers are important, as evidenced by the stable relative wage to regular workers. The increase of female labor-force participation explains the supply increase, and the change of industrial composition explains the demand increase. These compositional changes explain about one quarter of the increase of contingent workers. Uncertainty surrounding product demand and the introduction of information and communication technologies increase firms' usage of contingent workers, but its quantitative effect is limited. These findings suggest that the declining importance of firm-specific human capital is a probable cause for the increase of contingent workers.

Working Hours and Satisfaction: A comparative analysis of Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany (Japanese)

We investigate the relationship between working hours and working-hour satisfaction and that between working hours and life satisfaction for white-collar permanent employees in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany. We use data obtained from the International Survey on Work-Life Balance , which was conducted by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) and the Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office (ESRI) in Japan. The survey shows that Japan has the highest proportion of workers with long weekly working hours. Also, the unconditional average of both working-hour satisfaction and life satisfaction in Japan is lower than that of the UK, and Germany. We estimate ordered probit models with working-hour satisfaction and life satisfaction as dependent variables. Estimation results show that with other things being equal, working-hour satisfaction decreases as weekly working hours increase in all three countries. Results for life satisfaction reveal similar patterns, although the impact of weekly working hours is smaller than in the case of working-hour satisfaction. We also calculate predictions on the basis of our estimation results in which we control for personal, occupational and other characteristics. The prediction results show that the conditional average of working-hour satisfaction and life satisfaction is not necessarily lower in Japan than in the UK or Germany, unlike what the unconditional results suggest. Phrased differently, working-hour satisfaction and life satisfaction for Japanese workers is not below the satisfaction levels of British and German workers that have the same characteristics. This difference in the conditional and unconditional results can be attributed to the fact that many more Japanese workers have characteristics that are connected with lower satisfaction levels. Our results thus suggest that it would be possible to increase working-hour satisfaction and life satisfaction in Japan if the institutional factors that currently bring people lower satisfaction can be altered. For instance, additional flexibility geared towards bringing actual working hours closer to desired working hours could prove worthwhile in increasing satisfaction levels.

Why Has the Fraction of Contingent Workers Increased?: A case study of Japan (Japanese)

The fraction of contingent workers among all workers in Japan increased from 17% in 1986 to some 34% in 2008. This paper investigates the reason for this secular trend. Both demand and supply increases of contingent workers relative to regular workers are important, as evidenced by the stable relative wage to regular workers. The increase of female labor-force participation explains the supply increase, and the change of industrial composition explains the demand increase. These compositional changes explain about one quarter of the increase of contingent workers. Uncertainty surrounding product demand and the introduction of information and communication technologies increase firms' usage of contingent workers, but its quantitative effect is limited. These findings suggest that the declining importance of firm-specific human capital is a probable cause for the increase of contingent workers.