TPLS (Trans-Pacific Labor Seminar)

Twenty years ago, quantitative labor economics was a discipline confined mostly to one side of the Pacific (the United States and Canada).  Since then, this research methodology has diffused to the other side of the Pacific.  By now there exists the critical mass on both sides of the Pacific who shares similar research interests and methodology.  At the same time, with the rising prominence of multi-national corporations and the enhanced cross-national interactions of domestic firms in Pacific Rim countries, researchers, policy makers and practitioners on both side of the Pacific are facing increasingly similar labor and employment issues. The purpose of the TPLS is to begin a much-needed process of international academic integration of labor economists in the Pacific Rim.   

Inaugural Meeting of the Trans-Pacific Labor Seminar:
"Evolving Employment Practices in Japan and the U.S.”

Organizers: Takao Kato (Colgate, Columbia, IZA, and TCER) and Peter Kuhn (UC-Santa  Barbara, IZA, CESifo, and NBER)

Sponsors: The Suntory Foundation; UC-Santa Barbara; and Colgate University

Location:  Flying A Room, UCen Building, UCSB

Friday March 9 2007

8:20 am:  Shuttle van picks up guests at South Coast Inn for transport to UCSB

8:30 am:  coffee and pastries

9:00 – 12:00

Peter Kuhn (UCSB), "The Expanding Workweek? Understanding Trends in Long Work Hours Among U.S. Men, 1979-2005"

Susan Houseman (Upjohn Institute), "Manufacturers' Outsourcing to Employment Services"

Fumio Ohtake (Osaka University)
"Testing the Morale Theory of Nominal Wage Rigidity"

12:00-1:30 Lunch (served in the Flying A room)

1:30-3:30

Henry Farber (Princeton University)
"Labor Market Adjustment to Globalization: Long-Term Employment in the United States and Japan"

Takao Kato (Colgate University), "High Performance Work Practices and Employee Voice: A Comparison of Japanese and Korean Workers"

3:30- 4:00 Afternoon snack

4:00 – 5:00 Hideo Owan (Aoyama Gakuin University)
“Market Characteristics, Intra-Firm Coordination, and the Choice of Human Resource Management Systems: Evidence from New Japanese Data"

5:00 shuttle van transports guests to South Coast Inn

7:20 shuttle van departs from South Coast Inn for conference dinner

7:45 Conference dinner, Louie’s Restaurant (in the Upham Hotel, 1404 De La Vina St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101)

Saturday March 10 2007

8:20 am:  Shuttle van picks up guests at South Coast Inn for transport to UCSB

8:30 am:  coffee and pastries

9:00 – 12:00

Kathryn Shaw (Stanford University), “Reaching for the Stars”

Tsuyoshi Tsuru (Hitotsubashi University), "Transforming Incentives: Analysis of Personnel and Employee Output Data in a Large Japanese Auto Sales Firm"

Isao Ohashi (Hitotsubashi University)
"Morale and Work Satisfaction in the Workplace"

12:00-1:00 Lunch (served in the Flying A room)

1:00-2:00 Beach and Campus Walk

2:00-3:00 Jed L. DeVaro (Cornell University), "Job Characteristics and Labor Market Discrimination in Promotions: New Theory and Empirical Evidence”

3:00-3:30 afternoon snack

3:30-5:00 Roundtable discussion of future plans and funding for TPLS. 

5:00 shuttle bus departs UCSB for South Coast Inn