Differing factor adjustment costs across industries: Evidence from Japan

This study uses industry data from Japan to examine the joint behavior of investment and hiring. We estimate factor adjustment costs in industries and focus on the industrial differences in such costs. Our analysis reveals that heavy industries, such as steel and transportation equipment, require relatively large adjustment costs. Furthermore, comparing our results with studies that estimate these adjustment costs using US data, we find that the ratio of labor adjustment costs to total adjustment costs is higher in Japan than in the US. Our findings could be very useful in considering the implications of economic policies on factor adjustments.