JAPAN'S (UN)PROTECTIVE LABOR LAWS

How They Created 'Non-Regular' Workers and their Impacts on the Economy

Mari Mizoguchi

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes protective labor laws in Japan by considering the effects of the inefficient use of labor on firms' profit maximization with a particular emphasis on income differences across generations. After tracing the historical origins of the current economic situation, the paper evaluates the differences between the "regular" and "non-regular" tiers in the present-day protected market system. It ultimately proposes policies to remedy the problems it diagnoses.

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