Deflation und Arbeitsmarkt in Japan

Abstract

Since the mid 1990s, Japan suffers from a deflationary constellation. The deflation was triggered off by the crash of the stock market in Japan at the end 1980s, and the following credit crunch as banks in Japan stopped to issue credits. The final and most important factor for explaining the deflation is the collapse of the nominal wage anchor. Wages in Japan rose extremely below the increases of productivity. The resulting decrease in unit-labour costs stimulated deflation. Japan also shows how weak monetary policy becomes in a situation of deflation.