HIGH COSTS DRIVE WORKERS IN JAPAN

Japanese employees may work harder and longer than their foreign counterparts because housing and recreation are expensive, not because of a so-called "work ethic," says Lonnie Golden, a Pennsylvania State University economist.

Despite Japan's rapidly increasing wage rate in recent years, "Japanese workers, especially younger workers rearing children and saving for a home mortgage, must spend more time at work in order to attain a minimum standard of living," Mr. Golden says.