Gender Inequalities in the Japanese Workplace and Employment: Theories and Empirical Evidence

276 Pages·2019·5.053 MB·English

by  Kazuo Yamaguchi

Advances in Japanese Business and Economics 22
Kazuo Yamaguchi
Gender Inequalities
in the Japanese
Workplace and
Employment
Theories and Empirical Evidence
Advances in Japanese Business and Economics
Volume 22
Editor-in-Chief
RYUZOSATO
C.V.StarrProfessorEmeritusofEconomics,SternSchoolofBusiness,
NewYorkUniversity
SeniorEditor
KAZUOMINO
ProfessorEmeritus,KyotoUniversity
ManagingEditors
HAJIMEHORI
ProfessorEmeritus,TohokuUniversity
HIROSHIYOSHIKAWA
President,RisshoUniversity;ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo
TOSHIHIROIHORI
ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo;Professor,NationalGraduateInstituteforPolicyStudies
(GRIPS)
EditorialBoardMembers
YUZOHONDA
ProfessorEmeritus,OsakaUniversity;Professor,KansaiUniversity
JOTAISHIKAWA
Professor,HitotsubashiUniversity
KUNIOITO
ProfessorEmeritus,HitotsubashiUniversity
KATSUHITOIWAI
ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo;VisitingProfessor,InternationalChristianUniversity
TAKASHINEGISHI
ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo;Fellow,TheJapanAcademy
KIYOHIKONISHIMURA
ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo;Professor,NationalGraduateInstituteforPolicyStudies
(GRIPS)
TETSUJIOKAZAKI
Professor,TheUniversityofTokyo
YOSHIYASUONO
Professor,OsakaUniversity
JUNJIROSHINTAKU
Professor,TheUniversityofTokyo
MEGUMISUTO
ProfessorEmeritus,WasedaUniversity
KOTAROSUZUMURA
ProfessorEmeritus,HitotsubashiUniversity;Fellow,TheJapanAcademy
EIICHITOMIURA
Professor,HitotsubashiUniversity
KAZUOYAMAGUCHI
RalphLewisProfessorofSociology,UniversityofChicago
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Kazuo Yamaguchi
Gender Inequalities
in the Japanese Workplace
and Employment
Theories and Empirical Evidence
123
Kazuo Yamaguchi
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL, USA
ISSN 2197-8859 ISSN 2197-8867 (electronic)
Advances in JapaneseBusiness andEconomics
ISBN978-981-13-7680-1 ISBN978-981-13-7681-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7681-8
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Preface
This is a slight expansion and a translation by the author of a book originally
published in Japanese in 2017. The original book obtained two book awards in
Japan. One of the awards is the Nikkei Book–Culture Award for Books on
Economy(NikkeiKeizaiToshoBunkaSho),whichhasbeengiventoafewbooks
annuallysince1958andisconsideredthemostprestigiousbookawardinthestudy
of economy in Japan. Another award is Showa Women’s University’s Research
Book Award in Gender Studies, which is bestowed annually on a single research
book that has made the greatest contribution in the past year to the realization of
genderequalityinJapan.Itwasthefirstonewrittenbyamaleauthortoreceivethis
awardinthetenyearsoftheaward’shistory.Theoriginalbookwasalsotranslated
into Korean and published in South Korea in 2018.
Thepresentbookaswellastheoriginaloneinvestigatessocialstructuralcauses
of gender inequality in Japan while emphasizing micro-behavioral foundations
regardingtheproductionandreproductionofthosesocialstructuralcharacteristics.
Inthisregard,although empiricalresearchfocusesongender inequalities inJapan,
theoretical investigations, including reviews and evaluations of relevant theories
developedintheUnitedStates,madeinthebookforthemechanismofproduction
andreproductionofgenderinequalitiesinsocietytranscendtheanalysesofJapan’s
unique situations and problems. It therefore will be relevant to many researchers
who are interested in gender inequalities in the workplace and employment. The
authorthushopesthatthetheoreticalandempiricalinvestigationsmadeinthisbook
contribute to understanding the causes of gender inequalities over and beyond the
understanding of the Japanese case.
Chicago, USA Kazuo Yamaguchi
v
Contents
1 Impediments to the Advancement of Women in the Japanese
Employment System: Theoretical Overview and the Purpose
of This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction: Basic Facts on Gender Inequality
in Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Analysis of the Japanese Employment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.1 Main Points of Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.2 Strategic Rationality and Limitations of the Japanese
Employment System and Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.3 Institutional Causes of the Strong Persistence
of the Traditional Division of Household Labor
for Married Couples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.4 Statistical Discrimination Against Women
and Its Irrationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.2.5 “Dysfunction” of Japanese Employment Practices . . . . . . . 27
1.3 Strategy for Analysis and Organization of This Book . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendix: A Non-technical Explanation of Rubin’s Causal Model . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2 Determinants of the Gender Gap in the Proportion of Managers
Among White-Collar Regular Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1 Introduction: On the Intermediary Causes of the Gender
Wage Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.2 Realities of the Disparity in the Proportion of Managerial
Positions Between Men and Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3 Analytical Strategy and Main Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4 Method of Statistical Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
vii
viii Contents
2.4.1 Decomposition Analysis of the Gender Gap
in the Proportion of Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.4.2 Analysis of the Gender Gap in the Proportion
of Managers Unexplained by Gender Differences
in Explanatory Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.5 Analysis Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.5.1 Data Employed for Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.5.2 Influence of Gender Differences in Educational
Attainment, Age, and Years of Service on the Gender
Gap in the Proportion of Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.5.3 Analysis of Interaction Effects Between Gender
andIndividualandFirmCharacteristicsontheProportion
of Managers and Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.6 Conclusions and Policy Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Appendix 1: The BO and DFL Methods for Decomposition
Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Appendix 2: A Decomposition Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3 Causes and Effects of Gender Occupational Segregation:
Overlooked Obstacles to Gender Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.2 Review of Previous Studies and Theories from the West,
and Japan’s Current State from a Cross-National Comparative
Point of View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2.1 Review of Previous Studies and Theories on Gender
Occupational Segregation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2.2 Women’s Participation in Professional Jobs and Japan’s
Current Situation from a Cross-National Comparative
Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.3 Analysis Methods and Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.1 Analysis Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.4 Data and Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.5 Analytical Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.1 DegreeofGenderOccupationalSegregation:Comparison
Between Japan and the United States,
and Changes Over Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.2 AnalyzingtheRelationshipsAmongGender,Occupation,
and Wages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.5.3 Decomposition Analysis of Gender Occupational
Segregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.6 Conclusion and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Contents ix
3.6.1 Main Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.6.2 Consistency with Existing Theories and Policy
Implications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Appendix 1: Matching Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Appendix 2: Application of the Eight Occupational Classifications
Used in the Tables to the Sub-classifications of Japanese
and U.S. Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4 Gender Income Disparity Among White-Collar Regular
Employees: Explaining the Causes Responsible for 80%
of the Disparity and Its Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.1 Introduction: Objectives of This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.2 Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.3 Analytical Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.3.1 Decomposition of the Gender Income Disparity. . . . . . . . . 118
4.3.2 Analysis of the Heterogeneity of the “Unexplainable
Disparity” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.4 Data and Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.4.1 Data Used in the Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.4.2 Explanatory Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.4.3 Descriptive Statistics Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.5 Analysis 1: Decomposition Analysis of the Gender Income
Disparity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.5.1 Interpreting the Degree of Explanation from the DFL
Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.5.2 Results of Decomposition Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.6 Analysis 2: Analyzing the Heterogeneity of the Unexplainable
Disparity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.6.1 Gender Income Disparity by Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.6.2 Gender Income Disparity by Educational Attainment. . . . . 131
4.6.3 Gender Income Disparity by Occupation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.6.4 Gender Income Disparity by Average Weekly Hours
Worked. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.6.5 Gender Income Disparity by Positional Rank . . . . . . . . . . 135
4.7 Conclusion and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Appendix: Diagnostic Analyses of the Validity of the Propensity
Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
x Contents
5 Impacts of Companies’ Promotion of Work–Life Balance
and the Restrictive Regular Employment System on Gender
Wage Gap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
5.2 Hypotheses and Assumptions for Causal Inference . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
5.3 Data and Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.4 Analytical Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.5 Analysis Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.5.1 Testing the Statistical Independence of the Treatment
Variable and Control Variables After the IPT Weighting
of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.5.2 Effects of Company Attributes and Individual Attributes
on Company Policies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.5.3 Effects of the Presence of the GEO Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.5.4 Combined Effects of the Presence of the GEO Policy
and the WLB Promotion Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.5.5 Combined Effects of the Presence of the GEO Policy
and the Presence of a Work-Location-Restricted Regular
Employment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6 Empowerment of Women in the Workplace and Labor
Productivity: Which Company Policies Are Effective and Why . . . . 167
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.2 OECD Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
6.3 Analysis of Japanese Corporations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.3.1 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.3.2 Tobit Regression Analysis on Determinants
of Companies’ Gross Profit on Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.4 Conclusion and Discussion on Causal Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
7 Statistical and Indirect Discrimination: Revisiting the Incentive
Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
7.1 Introduction: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Statistical
Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
7.2 Reviewing the Theory of Coate and Loury and Examining
Its Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
7.2.1 Important Points in Understanding the Theory. . . . . . . . . . 199
7.2.2 A More Formal Review of the CL Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
7.3 Measures Not Considered by the CL Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207