Japan and France: Two very different visions of the labour market

France should examine closely the functioning of the Japanese labour market to find out whether it would be effective, or acceptable , in France . In Japan, the level of labour productivity is high in manufacturing industry and low in services. This gives: Full employment (in services) for the low-skilled; But at the cost of, firstly, significant w age inequality; and Secondly, high prices of services, which are a form of tax on manufacturing industry, but which manufacturing can accept given its high efficiency. The French model is very different: productivity in services is relatively high, which leads to a very high unemployment rate for low-skilled employees , but prevents the disadvantages due , as we have seen in Japan, to the low level of service productivity.