This document contains two essays: "Toward a High-Wage, High-Productivity Service Sector" by Lester Thurow; and "Service Sector Wages, Productivity and Job Creation in the U.S. and Other Countries" by Louise Waldstein. The first essay analyzes the recent and currrent U.S. economy under headings called Growth Nodes, Falling…

Although Japan is known to have the earliest mandatory retirement age (age 55) among the industrialized nations, the majority of workers continue to work beyond that age. Two systems allow those retired from their career jobs to continue to work: the reemployment system and the extension-of-employment system. (Author)

Outlines trends and challenges in job skills development, theoretical links between human capital and economic performance, methodological and measurement problems in analyzing return on investment. Presents case studies of approaches in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with public policy implications. (SK)

The relationship between wage differentiation and long-term unemployment was examined in a study that considered data regarding long-term unemployment and minimum wages in the United States, Japan, and 10 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Data regarding wages and unemployment in the 11 countries were…

A research study, based on a survey of the literature, sought to: (1) analyze recent economic, technological, and sociological trends in Japan; (2) analyze how those trends have or have not had an impact on Japan's historical and currently famous approach to the management of its human resources; and (3) based on findings, present arguments for or…

The introduction of computers and other microelectronic equipment throughout the Japanese economy has not affected employment negatively, owing to economic growth and the adaptability of the workers and business organizations affected. Because rapid advances in technology are making many specialized skills and areas of knowledge obsolete, it is…

The rise of the service sector is a major trend common to all western, industrialized countries. Employment in the service sector has increased in 1960-1986 in all 10 countries participating in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Human Resources project (Japan, Belgium, France,…

Twelve financial institutions (nine banks and three insurance companies) from five countries (France, West Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) were studied to determine the directions in which financial service markets and firms are moving as a result of increasing competition and technological change. Data were collected from…

An analysis of the service sector in five countries (France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) was made through synthesis of earlier research on work patterns in the countries. Some of the findings and issues discovered concerned the following: (1) the heterogeneity of the service sector; (2) the progress of part-time work; (3)…

The literature on employment growth in the United States and selected industrialized countries and the wage, benefits, and job security characteristics of new and existing jobs were analyzed to determine how job growth and quality in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s compares to that in other industrialized countries. Among the study's…

This volume presents 6 papers by 22 labor economists who examine and address worker displacement in 10 industrialized countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, United States). "Summary and Synthesis" (Peter J. Kuhn) discusses these four categories of lessons learned from panel…

This book examines the transition from higher education to the labor market in 10 countries. Although the individual papers do not follow a rigid standard format, they all consider the following issues: (1) how the labor market for graduates is organized; (2) how vocational orientation is achieved in degree courses in individual countries; and (3)…

This document contains three papers from an international conference on "ways and means for more employment." The first paper, "Employment Policy Comparisons and Policy Advice" (Ulrich Walwei), covers the German labor market in the second half of the 1990s and requirements for longer-term employment success through coping with…

This document contains the following seven papers, all in both English and Korean, from a conference on human resources development and school-to-work transitions in the knowledge-based society: "The U.S. Experience as a Knowledge-based Economy in Transition and Its Impact on Industrial and Employment Structures" (Eric Im); "Changes…

This book proposes a new, multidisciplinary theory for explaining and predicting current and future patterns of women's choice between employment and family work. Chapters 1 and 2 present main tenets of preference theory and explain the need for the theory. Chapters 3 through 8 elaborate four principal tenets of preference theory. Chapter 3…