Previous research fails to address whether contingent employment benefits individuals' careers more than the alternative they often face: being without a job. Using work history data from Japan, this study shows that accepting a contingent job delays individuals' transition to standard employment more than remaining jobless. Moreover, having a…

Over the years, American students consistently have ranked below those from Finland, Canada, Japan, and at least a dozen other industrialized nations on international tests of mathematics, science, and reading. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has done nothing to close this gap. And the authors suspect that the law may be making matters worse.…

Discusses trends in the domestic economy and labor market in Japan as well as the status and developmental tasks ahead for career guidance. Describes government efforts to upgrade guidance services and train and certify counselors. (JOW)

Essays focusing on issues concerning youth education and unemployment problems are presented in this document. It is divided into three general areas. The first, Youth Unemployment in Western Industrial Countries, reviews general dimensions of the problem, the cyclical hypothesis, the demand hypothesis, the supply hypothesis, disaggregating…

Examines the advantages and disadvantages of partial retirement--the transitional period between full-time employment and complete retirement--including easing the transition, labor market effects, and financial implications for social security systems and employers. Reviews partial retirement policies in eight countries and concludes that there…

Changes in the demand for higher education in postwar Japan are analyzed. Three simple conceptual models of the anticipated benefit of education are considered, along with the validity of each model in explaining changes in aggregate demand for college. A classical model assumes that individuals know about the prevailing wage structure and expect…

A series of articles discusses employment issues in various countries: youth employment, reduced working hours and wage cuts, dislocated workers, government employment policies, and job creation. (SK)

A survey of almost 1,000 research and development staff at large industrial corporations in Britain and Japan investigated differences in employment structures (market-oriented vs. organization-oriented), learning in higher education, and career expectations. Significant differences were found in attitudes of workers in the two countries.…

This bulletin examines the labor market experience of youth in the United States and eight other industrial countries from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. The analysis focuses upon unemployment, the most visible and measurable form of labor underutilization. The report highlights the size of the youth unemployment problem and discusses some of…

This article cites a variety of sources and synthesizes a number of studies on the social implications of technological innovations (microelectronics). These studies were related to six European and Asian countries and were also concerned with the international division of labor. (SSH)