Is Labor Market Mismatch a Big Deal in Japan?

Despite its low unemployment rate, the recent shift in the Japanese Beveridge curveindicates increased labor mismatch. This paper quantifies the age, employment-type (fullor part-time), and occupational mismatch in the Japanese labor market following Sahinand others (2013). Between April 2000 and April 2013, the age mismatch has steadilydeclined while the occupational and employmenttype mismatch has shown acountercyclical pattern, showing a sharp increase during the global financial crisis.Occupational mismatch accounted for approximtely 20-40 percent of the recent rise in theunemployment rate in Japan. The magnitude was comparable to that of the U.K. and theU.S.