Foreign Labor In Japan Case Study

Words: 899
Pages: 4
Open Document
One characteristic that makes Japan different from other developed capitalist countries is that it has a very low percentage of foreign labor. Batram (2000) describes this as a “negative case” of labor immigration. In other words, Japan’s case is a contrast to European countries where the import of immigrants was loosened for a large amount of labor to maintain the economic growth. To cope with the lack of labor, rather than import the labor from overseas, Japan had used other solutions. The first solution was outsourcing the production to developing countries. Since the 1980s, a lot of businesses in Japan have invested its manufacturing, especially the labor-intensive one, in low-wage countries as they could no longer find the supply of labor …show more content…
The reserve source of the labor force which were the women, the elderly and the people in rural areas were also encouraged to participate in the workforce. Those solutions for the shortage of labor eventually made Japan able to function without a large supply of foreign workers, which identify Japan as an unusual "negative" case of migration. This is also the reason why the general theories of migration that were developed from the context of Western countries could not apply to the case of Japan. Bartram suggests that rather than using the most general theories of migration developed in the Western world to explain this phenomenon, other factors could be considered such as cultural factor. For example, the idea of homogeneous nation has refrained Japan from getting people from the outside. Moreover, medium and small businesses are the ones who suffered the most from the lack of labor shortage but they have less influence on the government than the big businesses, who can manage to sustain the labor better with higher wages. Therefore, they did not have much power in pressuring the central government to open the door for the outside resources of …show more content…
While classic countries of immigrants such as Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom have open policies for the immigrants that help them blend into the society for nation-building, Japan has a more conservative welfare regime that embedded a clear insider-outsider cleavage that prevents the low-level foreign workers from upward mobility (Takenoshita, year). Also, compared to classic countries of immigrants, Japan has a relatively low budget for integration programs with optional short language courses for the foreign workers. The model the Japanese government uses is said to be similar to the guest worker system that Germany used to have in the past, which was the most restricted system among developed European countries. Rather than integrating the immigrants, they kept the guest workers system in which the foreigners were only perceived as temporary citizens. Later in 2005, they modified the law for immigration for better integration of foreign workers. Unlike German, Sweden adopted a broader and more open system to integrate the foreigners into the society by providing language and culture education. The Swedish government also provided an allowance for the immigrants as social assistance. Other northern European countries also have similar integration system sponsored by the government. In japan, such system was not
Show More

Related Documents: Foreign Labor In Japan Case Study

Essay about Student Advocacy and “Sweatshop Labor”; the Case of Russell Athletic

Answers for the case study Student advocacy and “sweatshop labor”; the case of Russell Athletic Q1 * Culture of the particular country It is very important to study the different elements of culture of the country. When consider China and India, being large countries, the cultural diversity is higher and varies with the geographical areas. In some cultures, the value systems and ethics will be critically affected on the business. Some businesses are almost impossible to start in some regions…

Words 945 - Pages 4

Essay on Japan Yen

Yen Lawrence Cifarelli III, Nazanin Ershad, Natthima Sonsoem, Anyesha Mahaptra University of New Haven Abstract This Case study provides an insight to the fluctuations experienced in the currency of Japan, Yen from the late 1990’s to recent years. Japan follows the floating currency monetary policy due to which there is no measures taken on to control the fluctuations. Japan experienced magnificent growth through the 60's, 70's, and 80's leading into the 90's beginning. In the late 1990's, Japan’s…

Words 4337 - Pages 18

Analysis of W L More Essay

continent where the Ford should go for doing a valuable business. The names of much Asian country come under discussion like India, China, Japan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. I had a reading about the last three mentioned countries. I had gone through the statistical data of these countries and I would like to move in Malaysia as my first choice. The value for foreign direct investment inflow dynamism shows that there is a more room for investors to invest their money in this country because of many…

Words 912 - Pages 4

Essay about Developing Effective Marketing Strategies for the Japanese Market: a Review of the Literature

Argosy University Japan, as the world’s third largest economy, continues to be attractive to international exporters and investors. It is our argument that the forces of change that led originally to new and bigger opportunities remain the same, despite surface differences. This paper explores some of the key issues related to entering this market. It provides an examination of effective marketing strategies and how the marketing knowledge can be used to enter and succeed in Japan. It outlines six…

Words 5898 - Pages 24

International Trade and China Essay

has become the biggest communist economies (Mahoney, 2001, p. 62). There are many countries that have made business relationships with China, for example, Japan, which as the world’s second largest economy, is also one of the largest trade partner of China. Nevertheless, how do international trade and investment happen between china and Japan? Which factors can support the trade relationship, but which influences will hinder the development of business between these two countries. This essay will…

Words 4260 - Pages 18

Essay about Fareed Zakaria Notes

Talking Points : Robert Gates US Economy – Today on GPD Negotiations with Iran – Neuroscience France BS Fareed’s Take: Fareed’s view on Obama’s address on privacy/NSA Believes in most of what he has outlined expect for the surveillance of foreign leaders being ratcheted down. Robert Gates: Discussion about Memoire. “I wanted to make paralysis in White House real to the public”. Fareed most struck by the fact that Robert Gates agreed with most if not all of Obama’s decisions. Gates discusses…

Words 1466 - Pages 6

Essay on Economics Growth in Israek

compare it with the growth of many other countries. Although Israel’s growth rate was above average, its ranking changes when the comparison is conditioned on the initial level of development, as measured by GDP per capita. This is particularly the case when decade-long averages are used to compare growth rates, because it then transpires that Israel’s growth rate was relatively high only in the 1960s. Israel’s relative growth rate fell significantly in the 1970s and was extremely disappointing…

Words 3945 - Pages 16

Global Sourcing Benefits and Challenges for H&M Essay

This study is to find out the importance and influence of global sourcing for H&M in terms of benefits, challenges and success requirement. CHAPTER 2 Benefits of global sourcing 2.1 Cost Reduction “Cost is one of the key factors determining H&M more successful…

Words 4693 - Pages 19

International Marketing Ethics and Csr Case Study Essay

1. Identification of Case Issues Mars chocolate is one of the worlds leading chocolate manufacturers and employs more than 13,000 people across 110 sites worldwide. As market leaders in their industry, Mars is constantly in the spotlight. Being responsible in the way they conduct business is part of the reason they are in the highly regarded position that they are in today. The sourcing of cocoa however is currently one the greatest ethical dilemma’s facing not only Mars, but all chocolate companies…

Words 2168 - Pages 9

GBE Week 1 QUESTION 3 Essay

QUESTION 3: “Ultimately, the study of international business is no different from the study of domestic business. Thus, there is no point in having a separate course on international business.” Evaluate that statement. A separate course on global business is important because the study of international business differs from the study of domestic business. According to Hill 2013, the reasons that make these studies different are: the fundamental differences among countries, the greater complexity…

Words 1735 - Pages 7