This book provides a comparative account of women's employment in Japan and Germany. Kucera examines women's role as a flexible, contingent workforce in two of the world's foremost industrialised economies.

1. Unemployment, Labor Market Flexibility and Women as a Buffer Workforce Introduction: defining labor market flexibility Part 1. Evidence on the relationship between labor market flexibility and unemployment Part 2. Unemployment and labour flexibility in Japan Conclusion 2. Women's Integration into the Workforce Introduction: the buffer, job segregation, and substitution hypotheses Foreign workers in Germany as a buffer workforce Women as a buffer workforce and the job segregation hypothesis in sectors and manufacturing industries Comparing patterns of gender segregation Conclusion 3. Industrial Relations and Labor Market Institutions Introduction: combining high and low road strategies in Japan Lifetime employment and nenko earnings in Japan: persisting institutions Temporary employment as a stepping stone and buffer Part-time employment from demand and supply sides Women and unions Conclusion Appendix: Policies supporting the employment of mothers; Maternity leave policies; Child care provisions 4. Foreign Trade, Employment and Earnings Introduction: skills bias and gender bias Part 1. Foreign trade and men and women's employment Part 2. Foreign trade and diverging gender wage gaps in Germany and Japan Conclusion 5. German Reunification Introduction: the question of convergence Women's employment in East Germany and persisting inequalities After the wall: women's high unemployment and demographic shocks Conclusion