The Economic Analysis of the Japanese Firm

from -
http://www.amazon.com/Economic-Analysis-Japanese-Firm-Contributions/dp/0444868224

This book is a result of a collective project by Japanese economists, conducted over the period 1981-83, and contains articles on various aspects of the Japanese firm with comments by Western authorities in labor economics, corporate finance theory, and Japanese economic studies. Topics treated include: the workings of internal labor organization, economic rationality of such practices as ``life-time'' employment, seniority wages, enterprise unionism and bonus system, the roles of the bank in corporate finance and corporate groupings, the management process and its efficiency, and government-business relationship. Main features of this work are: - the first economic treatment of the Japanese firm, both its financial and labor aspects, beyond the culturalist approach - All the propositions are tested by various empirical methods such as econometrics techniques, interviews - includes institutional description related to the Japanese firm, such as accounting, corporate tax, the workings of internal labor organization on the shop floor