Use of Joint Consultation Committees by Large Japanese Firms

In Japanese union-employer relations, managers of large firms often make use of the Joint Consultation Committee (JCC) system in order to avoid disputes with labour. This study first describes two such uses of the system, namely information-sharing and pre-Shunto (Spring Offensive) wage discussions. It then examines several economic, institutional and operational correlates of these uses. The results indicate that information-sharing is a function of firms' operational structure, whereas the likelihood of pre-Shunto wage discussions responds to short-term changes in firms' economic performances as well as to institutional and operational factors.