Macroeconomics Case Study

Japan: Employing the Unemployed

OR

Abstract:
After World War II, Japan focused all its efforts on its economy. The country's gross domestic product grew by stunning rates in the 1950s and 1960s, and continued as the world's second largest through the 1980s. In the 'lost decade' that followed, it seemed as though the 'Japanese miracle' was being dismantled by the long-lasting recession in the economy. As downturns in the economy reflected surges in the unemployment rates, measures to create employment had become a key issue in government policy, especially in the wake of increasing corporate restructuring.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss the measures employed by the Japanese government in tackling the unemployment problem
• To discuss the need for alternative sources of labour in a predicament of country’s ageing population, declining birth rate, and decreasing human resources.

Keywords : Japan, Economic recession, Unemployment, Employment measures, Lost decade, Government and Business Environment Case Study, Structural reforms, Corporate restructuring, Deregulation, Ageing population, Outplacement firms, Labour,Business Environment Case Study, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Human resources