Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training

ABSTRACT This study focuses on female self-employed workers in Japan, evaluating their position in the labour market and access to social protection. It also investigates the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and their responses to it. We find that female self-employed workers are in a better position than female employees working on non-standard contracts, with less gender disparity. However, they lack social protection against sudden income loss, which caused them more serious damage during the COVID-19 crisis. Although the segment is relatively free from gender discrimination, it cannot escape the gender biases embedded in the social security system.

Residential demand-side management (DSM) of electricity has been gaining attention as a way to reduce energy consumption at home and as a way of maximizing the utilization of fluctuating solar power generation. To promote the smooth introduction of DSM into homes, power usage trends according to the time of the day should be examined for individuals in relation to their lifestyles. The analyses of power usage trends can identify the types of home appliances that should be utilized differently in order to increase energy efficiency. Such analyses can also predict the individual behavioral changes that should result in home appliances being used in the time slots in which solar power is more conveniently available. The purpose of this research was to estimate and observe the amount of power saving potential for each daily time slot with respect to an individual’s particular attributes, and to derive the power saving potential of the whole country by accumulating these data on individuals. This was achieved by using the Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (STULA) and Energy-Saving Performance Catalog (ESPC) in Japan. According to the results of our estimation, a meaningful power saving potential is sufficient to address a power supply shortage after a disaster such as an earthquake. It is possible to save power by replacing existing home appliances with more energy efficient ones, by making environmentally conscious choices when using home appliances, and by discontinuing the use of home appliances during electricity shortages within the community as a whole. Using the estimated power saving potentials, we examined the effects of two DSMs: (1) adjusting the time for which home appliances are used; and (2) aggregating the power demand of households with different attributes. The results showed that these DSMs would contribute to a more stable power system operation. Future research might address the rapid penetration of community energy management systems and demand response systems.

本稿では，地方を取り巻く課題を，雇用機会の面を中心に整理し，雇用機会の地域間格差が若者の生き方にどう影響しているのかを考察する。 地方出身の若者が出身地を離れるタイミングは，本稿が用いたデータでは18歳時の大学等への進学が中心だが，雇用機会の地域差は，学校を卒業するタイミングで地元に戻れるか，戻りたいと思えるかに大きくかかわる。その地域差については，従来，失業率や有効求人倍率などの指標をもって，雇用機会の「量」に関する地域差が主に問題にされてきた。近年の雇用情勢をみる限り，こうした量的な地域差は見かけ上縮小したが，雇用機会の「質」には地域差が多分にある。それは，ひとつには就ける仕事の選択肢（業種・職種）の地域差がある。地方では大企業本社の立地が少ないこともあり，オフィスワーク等，大卒者の希望に沿う雇用機会が相対的に乏しい。また，初任給の格差に代表される労働条件の地域差も依然として大きい。地方でのヒアリング調査からも，地方都市と，都市部から離れた地域の違いこそあれ，こうした要因の複合から若者流出の課題を抱えていた。こうした中，地元企業の存在・魅力が十分知られていないことも，Uターンを躊躇させている状況があることから，希望する若者が地元で仕事・生活していける選択肢を示すため，地域では「働く場」を知ってもらう様々な方策が行われている。

Abstract We clarify how individuals actively interact with socio-cultural contexts to attain regular employment in Japan. Based on a large sample (N = 3,512) of part-time employed and unemployed college graduates (23–39 years old), we found that: Career decision making self-efficacy predicted job search; a lack of both hope and fulfillment motivated job search, while having hope promoted it; wishing for perfect vocation and being free from both inclination towards personal interests and passivity motivated job search. Clients’ desire for “a perfect vocation,” should not necessarily be considered as a career barrier but, perhaps, rather as an asset for motivating job search. Counselors should seek to better understand the influence of clients’ socio-cultural contexts on their career attitudes.

This paper describes a nonsurvey method for estimating multiregional trades without eliminating cross-hauling, when a national biregional input–output table is available. Domestic outflows are assigned by interpolating the biregional trades on the basis of the gravity ratio between the origin and the destinations, with parameters estimated from an earlier survey on interregional transactions. The method is then applied to evaluate multiregional industrial waste disposal and landfill attributed to consumption in the city of Nagoya. Three-regional input–output tables with and without cross-hauling are estimated by partitioning the biregional table between Aichi prefecture and the rest of Japan.

International standards play an increasingly important role in the world economy. Research in the field of economics on standardisation has focused on addressing the question of how and in which situations standards should be generated. While this analysis is important, it tends to overlook the subsequent process of implementation, despite its importance for an appropriate standard setting. This paper uses empirical evidence from Japanese firms in order to identify the reasons why and under which conditions firms do not comply with international standards. The Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT) standard, which defines data exchange networks, and the ISO 9000 standard, which defines quality management processes, are the two case studies. I also draw comparisons to the implementation of these standards in Germany I conclude that non-compliance with standards is a common phenomenon with specific, regional characteristics. At the end, I make preliminary conclusions about new ways of thinking about how international standards are set.