現代資本主義における雇用関係の変容と市場個人主義(現代と市場-経済学は市場をどう見るか,第52回大会共通論題)

抄録

This paper discusses the transformation of employment relations inspired by market individualism and major structural changes in contemporary capitalism. Recent decades in Japan, the USA, and other countries have witnessed the rapid growth of contingent employment. Workers have become polarized into those who work shorter and longer hours. At the same time, average annual working hours have risen, reversing what had been a trend toward long-term decline. Behind these trends are the deregulation of the labor market and market individualism, which treat employees as if they were independent craft workers, and leads to calls for the diversification of employment patterns and individualization of working hours. Four elements of "new economy" capitalism are the source of this transformation. First, the process of globalization has caused intensified competition, forcing the restructuring of production methods and work organization, leading to deteriorating working conditions in the home countries of multinational corporations. Second, advances in information and communication technologies have promoted the outsourcing of business operations and the replacement of full-time employees by part-time and temporary workers. Moreover, the information revolution in offices has given rise to a "24-hour economy," with matching job stress that erodes the private sphere of workers' lives. Third, today's consumer society and the accompanying feminization of the labor force have produced overconsumption driven by a spirit of emulation and unlimited desires, resulting in what Juliet Schor called "the cycle of work and spend." Consumers' pursuit of convenience and low prices has brought employment instability and longer working hours. Fourth, recent management style changes that make stock price performance the highest priority have encouraged downsizing and layoffs. Employees accepted these unpleasant outcomes without much resistance as long as they held stocks, especially when stock prices continued to increase in the 1990s in the USA. The paper concludes that there is an integral relationship between market individualism in worlds of work and structural changes in contemporary capitalism. Driven by developments in information and communication technologies, globalization spreads employment instability and longer working hours by encouraging competition for advantage among consumers and investors. However, contrary to what market individualists think, in this age we need labor policies that place emphasis on workers' common interests and trade unions that represent workers collectively.