Labor Markets and Labor Market Policies between Globalization and World Economic Crisis

This publication focuses on studies on Japan and Germany, as well as on comparative studies. The consequences of globalization and of the world economic and financial crisis are the recurrent theme: How did the labor markets cope with the crisis and what are the resulting challenges for labor market policy and social policy? On the brink of a global employment crisis following the global financial and economic crisis, this publication analyzes the development of labor markets and labor market policies in two countries which during the second half of the 20th century were among the most suc-cessful in terms of economic growth and social inclusion. The recent history of labor markets and labor market policies in Germany and Japan can be divided into four phases: (1) a phase of strong institutional co-ordination of labor markets before the on-set of globalization; (2) the emergence of an employment crisis related to both the chal-lenges of globalization and to nation-specific factors, notably the burst of the real estate speculation bubble in Japan and reunification in Germany; (3) since 2003 an attempt to solve the employment crisis by a market-optimistic approach; and (4) finally new challenges arising from the Global Financial and Economic Crisis of 2009. This book is the outcome of the conference “The flexibilization of labor markets between globalization and the global economic crisis: Comparing Japan and Germany” which was held at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences in June 2009.