This is the first empirical study of the determinants of pay for entry-level jobs among Japanese firms. Pay data of 1,382 companies obtained from the Nikkei survey was matched with company size, performance, industry, and foreign ownership data from Toyo Keizai’s Japan Company Handbook. We found that unlike the results based on U.S. data, company size is not related to entry-level pay. Firm performance is positively related, but its effect is minimal. Industry membership and foreign ownership are positively related. We believe that these findings highlight the influence of the Japanese employment context and information sharing in Japan. Implications for research and practice are discussed
