User:Jose Cajero/Japans working hours in relation to efficiency/bibliography

Japanese working hours are on average 1680 hours per year according to the OECD data[1], but relative to these long hours being worked Japan is still as of 2018 lagging behind other industrial giants such as the United States and Germany who have shown a growth of 3.3 percent GDP (U.S.), and 3.6 percent growth (Germany) during this period of growth Japan only averaged 2.9 percent of growth per annum over the past 20 years in comparison[2]. This data shows that although Japan ranks high on the amount of time worked it is an outlier for countries in its GDP range who in comparison work significantly less annually such as France who averages 1473.46 hours worked annually but has a similar GDP to that of Japan[3].

The combined data can be further broken down when measuring the actual levels of productivity that reveals non-manufacturing companies in Japan had little to no growth regardless of the extensive work hours put in, in contrast the Japanese manufacturing sector has grown exponentially and continues to remain competitive with other manufacturing leaders on the global market. When further analyzing the actual OECD data as of 2016 the Japanese created only $41.54 in GDP per hour worked which is below the OECD average of $46.98 and the overall G7 average of $55.39 [4] This further stands to signify through imperial evidence that although the Japanese work days may be longer they are not economically more productive. Also there is hyper-redundancy often in place in corporate Japan known as "Ometanashi" this idiosyncratic ideology is prevalent in all levels of corporatism in Japan and prevents the reduction of unessential workers to increase productivity. [5] These combined barriers to productivity illustrate that although the long hours of the culturally inclined 'company man' are leading lower levels of productivity in an increasingly smaller Japanese work force. Japans PM Shinzo Abe has begun to push for labor reform and has begun to push legislation to regulate the overworking of Japanese employees in an attempt to find a balance that would eventually lead to better economic growth in the non manufacturing sectors. [6]

sources:[1]OECD (2019), Hours worked (indicator). doi: 10.1787/47be1c78-en (Accessed on 02 August 2019); [2] Koll, Jesper. “Japan's Coming Productivity Miracle.” The Japan Times, www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/08/03/commentary/japan-commentary/japans-coming-productivity-miracle/#.XUR6mC2ZNQI.; [3] Koll, Jesper. “Japan's Coming Productivity Miracle.” The Japan Times, www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/08/03/commentary/japan-commentary/japans-coming-productivity-miracle/#.XUR6mC2ZNQI.; [4] Su, Xiaochen. “'Omotenashi' Underlies Japan's Low Economic Productivity.” The Japan Times, www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/09/11/commentary/japan-commentary/omotenashi-underlies-japans-low-economic-productivity/#.XUUaGC2ZNQI.[5]Su, Xiaochen. “'Omotenashi' Underlies Japan's Low Economic Productivity.” The Japan Times, www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/09/11/commentary/japan-commentary/omotenashi-underlies-japans-low-economic-productivity/#.XUUaGC2ZNQI.Okutsu, Akane, and Eri Sugiura. “Japan Kicks Inefficient Work Habits as Labor Crunch Worsens.” Nikkei Asian Review, Nikkei Asian Review, 8 May 2018, asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Japan-kicks-inefficient-work-habits-as-labor-crunch-worsens.