Labor Market Structures in Japan: An Analysis of Organizational and Occupational Mobility Patterns

In this article, we examine patterns of occupational and organizational mobility among Japanese men. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that Japanese men often change employers as well as occupations during their careers. Using a conceptualization of internal labor markets that distinguishes between firm internal labor markets (FILMs) and occupational internal labor markets (OILMs), we tested various hypotheses about the determinants of four patterns of job shifts formed by cross-classifying firm and occupational mobility. Our results suggest that men in larger organizations (who we assumed are more apt to be in FILMs) are more likely than those in smaller firms to experience within-firm mobility, while men in tiny firms make more across-firm shifts. In addition, men in professional and technical occupations (who we assume are more likely to be in OILMs) experience more within-occupation mobility.