The Economics of the "Company Man"

Abstract

The typical company employee working in a Japanese enterprise has been characterized by the term "company person." This means that he or she is a worker who depends on the ups and downs of the firm for the foundation of his or her own existence and gives priority to activities for the firm over the other aspects of his or her individual life. There have been many criticisms of the figure of the company person connected with such social problems as long hours of work, death from overwork, and the way a family should be. However, the various features of the enterprise system in Japan that have established the process that brought about the growth of Japanese enterprises following the Second World War have promoted the making of the company person. It is also probably true that the "company-person-type" worker has contributed to the growth of Japanese enterprises.