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Accounting for Japanese Business Cycles: a Quest for Labor Wedges

Author

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  • Keisuke Otsu

    (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University (E-mail: k-otsu@sophia.ac.jp))

Abstract
A key feature of the Japanese business cycles over the 1980- 2007 period is that the fluctuation of total hours worked leads the fluctuation of output. A canonical real business cycle model cannot account for this fact. This paper uses the business cycle accounting method introduced by Chari, Kehoe and McGrattan (2007) and shows that labor market distortions are important in accounting for the this feature of the Japanese labor supply fluctuation. I further discuss fundamental economic shocks that manifest themselves as labor wedges and assess their impacts on labor fluctuation.

Suggested Citation

  • Keisuke Otsu, 2009. "Accounting for Japanese Business Cycles: a Quest for Labor Wedges," IMES Discussion Paper Series 09-E-28, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.
    • Handle: RePEc:ime:imedps:09-e-28
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fumio Hayashi & Edward C. Prescott, 2004. "The 1990s in Japan: a lost decade," Chapters, in: Paolo Onofri (ed.), The Economics of an Ageing Population, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    5. Anton Braun, R. & Esteban-Pretel, Julen & Okada, Toshihiro & Sudou, Nao, 2006. "A comparison of the Japanese and U.S. business cycles," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 441-463, December.
    6. Kobayashi, Keiichiro & Inaba, Masaru, 2006. "Business cycle accounting for the Japanese economy," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 418-440, December.
    7. Rogerson, Richard, 1988. "Indivisible labor, lotteries and equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 3-16, January.
    8. V. V. Chari & Patrick J. Kehoe & Ellen R. McGrattan, 2007. "Business Cycle Accounting," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(3), pages 781-836, May.
    9. McGrattan, Ellen R., 1994. "The macroeconomic effects of distortionary taxation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 573-601, June.
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    12. Chakraborty, Suparna, 2009. "The boom and the bust of the Japanese economy: A quantitative look at the period 1980-2000," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 116-131, January.
    13. Marimon, Ramon & Scott, Andrew (ed.), 1999. "Computational Methods for the Study of Dynamic Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294979.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunji, Hiroshi & Miyazaki, Kenji, 2017. "Why do Japanese women work so much less than Japanese men? A business cycle accounting approach," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 45-55.
    2. Inaba, Masaru & Nutahara, Kengo & Shirai, Daichi, 2022. "What drives fluctuations of labor wedge and business cycles? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Ichiro Muto & Nao Sudo & Shunichi Yoneyama, "undated". "Productivity Slowdown in Japan's Lost Decades: How Much of It Can Be Attributed to Damaged Balance Sheets?," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 16-E-3, Bank of Japan.
    4. Kosuke Aoki & Nao Sudo, 2012. "Asset Portfolio Choice of Banks and Inflation Dynamics," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 12-E-5, Bank of Japan.
    5. Keiichiro Kobayashi & Daichi Shirai, 2017. "Debt-Ridden Borrowers and Economic Slowdown," CIGS Working Paper Series 17-002E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    6. Shirai, Daichi, 2016. "Persistence and Amplification of Financial Frictions," MPRA Paper 72187, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Keiichiro Kobayashi & Daichi Shirai, 2012. "Debt-Ridden Borrowers and Productivity Slowdown," CIGS Working Paper Series 14-005E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    8. Keisuke Otsu, 2012. "How well can business cycle accounting account for business cycles?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1774-1784.
    9. Kosuke Aoki & Nao Sudo, 2013. "Bank’s regulation, asset portfolio choice of banks, and macroeconomic dynamics," CARF F-Series CARF-F-323, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    10. Yue ZHAO, 2013. "Role of Financial and Productivity Shocks in the US and Japan: A Two-Country Economy," KIER Working Papers 881, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    11. Nao Sudo, 2011. "Accounting for the Decline in the Velocity of Money in the Japanese Economy," IMES Discussion Paper Series 11-E-16, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business Cycle Accounting; Japanese Labor Market;

    JEL classification:

    • E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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