Government as Institutional Entrepreneur: Extending Working Life in the UK and Japan

Abstract

Through the lens of Institutional Entrepreneurship, this paper discusses how governments use the levers of power afforded through business and welfare systems to affect change in the organisational management of older workers. It does so using national stakeholder interviews in two contrasting economies: the United Kingdom and Japan. Both governments have taken a ‘light-touch’ approach to work and retirement. However, the highly institutionalised Japanese system affords the government greater leverage than that of the liberal UK system in changing employer practices at the workplace level.

Trends and Determinants of Work-Retirement Transitions under Changing Institutional Conditions: Germany, England and Japan compared

“…While employers worry about losing skills, they are also reluctant to retain older workers without government assistance to offset high seniority-based labour costs (Seike and Yamada, 2004). Employers thus frequently use redeployments to move workers after their mandatory retirement ages within and between workplaces (Flynn et al , 2014). Furthermore, small and medium-sized enterprises seek older displaced workers to offset skills shortages (Casey, 2005).…”

“…The latter was a result of a downward redefinition of the beginning of "old age", which exacerbated existing age discrimination in employment (Walker and DLitt, 2000). The mid-to late-1990s were therefore marked by conflicting trends: while institutionalised early retirement persisted, governments and employers in OECD countries had started to reassess its usefulness (Walker, age of 65 (Flynn, Schroder, Higo and Yamada, 2014). However, even though employment rates of older individuals have generally increased markedly since the late-1990s (OECD, 2013), not all individuals are equally able to prolong their employment due to intra-group heterogeneities (Bennett and Möhring, 2015).…”

“…Such measures are considered a part of ‘active ageing’, a policy framework covering health, eldercare, inclusion and work (Walker, 2002). In Japan, due to low birthrates and limited migration, the government has been promoting extended working life since the 1960s (Williamson and Higo, 2009), but has recently sought to reduce the contingency in which most older workers find themselves by investing heavily in special job-placement services and by compelling employers to retain their workers beyond their firm-level mandatory retirement age, which is often age 60, until they reach the new national pension age of 65 (Flynn et al ., 2014). However, even though employment rates of older individuals have generally increased markedly since the late-1990s (OECD, 2013), not all individuals are equally able to prolong their employment due to intra-group heterogeneities (Bennett and Möhring, 2015).…”

Developing Age‐friendly Cities: Policy Opportunities and Challenges

“…Given demographic changes, many countries are now actively attempting to extend working life by delaying or completely abolishing a fixed retirement age (Barslund, 2015;Flynn, Schröder, Higo, & Yamada, 2014). Nonetheless, there is a gap between policies and practice (Loretto et al, 2013).…”

Addressing the ageing workforce: a critical examination of legal policy objectives and values in the United Kingdom

“…Thus, an enduring focus on ‘choice’ may have reduced any disparity between various governments and institutional actors, creating at least the appearance of a uniform approach to the ‘common good’ over time. Alternatively, the mentality of ‘choice’ may have encouraged self-restraint on the part of the state, and limited the state's involvement as an institutional entrepreneur (Flynn et al 2014: 549). This could serve to re-enforce and exacerbate the path dependence of government policy in this area (Flynn et al 2014: 549).…”