Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan

Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan

Author: Davide Porcellacchia

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-02-10

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1498316638

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Structural reforms in the liquidity trap need not be deflationary. This paper develops a simple framework to study the role that key characteristics of Japan’s labor and product markets—labor-market duality and weak corporate governance—play in generating unfavorable wage-price dynamics. The model allows a discussion of whether and in what form structural reforms may contribute to Japan’s short-run goal of reflating the economy. It finds that boosting inflation with structural reforms implies an unusual trade-off with employment, that is an inverted Phillips curve. Simultaneous implementation of labor-market and product-market reforms is most effective in terms of reflating the economy.


Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan

Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan

Author: Davide Porcellacchia

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-02-10

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1498317782

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Structural reforms in the liquidity trap need not be deflationary. This paper develops a simple framework to study the role that key characteristics of Japan’s labor and product markets—labor-market duality and weak corporate governance—play in generating unfavorable wage-price dynamics. The model allows a discussion of whether and in what form structural reforms may contribute to Japan’s short-run goal of reflating the economy. It finds that boosting inflation with structural reforms implies an unusual trade-off with employment, that is an inverted Phillips curve. Simultaneous implementation of labor-market and product-market reforms is most effective in terms of reflating the economy.


Price Dynamics in Japan (1981-2001)

Price Dynamics in Japan (1981-2001)

Author: Nicolas Canry

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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This paper aims to provide an alternative framework to previous studies of deflation in Japan. We focus on the real dimension of the price dynamics and propose an imperfect competition model, which describes a rent economy, where the formation of prices can be separated into the markup (level of the rent in the goods market) and the unit labor cost (distribution of the rent in the labor market). We use a panel industry dataset to analyze the impact of institutional and structural factors on the heterogeneous price dynamics of 10 manufacturing sectors. Although the evolution of unit labor costs seems to be the driving force of price dynamics in the manufacturing industry, our structural analysis leads to consider the importance of the increasingly competitive environment, as captured by rising import penetration. Along with the decline of bargaining power of the workforce, this is at the origin of the deflationary pressures that characterized the Japanese economy during the Lost Decade.


Minimum Wage as a Wage Policy Tool in Japan

Minimum Wage as a Wage Policy Tool in Japan

Author: Ms.Chie Aoyagi

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-11-28

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 1475557256

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Using prefectural data, we study the potential impact on wage dynamics of the planned minimum wage increase policy in Japan. Our main result is that stepping up minimum wage growth from 2 to the planned 3 percent per year could raise wage growth by 0.5 percent annually. Given Japan’s need for income policies to generate vigorous wage-price dynanics, reflecting the 2 percent inflation target, one policy implication of this finding is that, while the minimum wage plan will help boost wages, it should be accompanied by other, more “unorthodox” income policies, such as a “soft target” for private sector wage growth through a “comply -or-explain mechanism” for wage growth and increases in public wages in line with the inflation target.


Japanese Political Economy Revisited

Japanese Political Economy Revisited

Author: David Chiavacci

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-25

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 0429884567

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During the last 30 years, the Japanese political economy system has experienced significant changes that are usually not well understood or analysed because of their complexity and contradictions. This book provides new analyses and insights on the process of evolving Japanese political economy including Japan’s current economic policy known as Abenomics. The first three chapters looks at evolutions at the corporate level, characterised in recent years by increasing firm heterogeneity. The authors apply theoretically driven analyses to the complex subject of corporate governance, human resource management and corporate reporting by discussing new developments in context of their economic opportunities as well as of their institutional contradictions with continuities in Japanese business practices. The second group of chapters deals with institutional changes and evolving economic reforms on the macro level of political economy. The two chapters focus on the financial system regulation and economic growth policies as two central elements of Japan’s political economy and key drivers in the evolution of its economy. Their analysis allows us to better understand the interplay between reforms and change in consumption credit and to reinterpret Abenomics as a manifestation of ongoing contradictions within the Japanese political economy. The chapters were originally published in a special issue in Japan Forum.


Reflating Japan

Reflating Japan

Author: Ms.Elif Arbatli

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-08-19

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 1475527845

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Japan has ambitious economic goals: 3 percent nominal growth; 2 percent inflation; and a primary budget surplus. Abenomics has employed the three arrows of monetary, fiscal and structural policies, but the goals remain out of reach. We propose that countercyclical measures be embedded in long-run frameworks that anchor expectations for inflation and public debt. In addition, we argue for an incomes policy to assist reflation. Model simulations suggest that, combined, these proposals would make headway towards the goals, with, on balance, a better chance of success than the more unconventional policy alternatives proposed by Krugman, Svensson, and Turner from a risk-return perspective.