The smaller the size of the firm, the lower is its capability to negotiate prices with its client firms, which makes it difficult to transfer the input cost to the final sales prices. This phenomenon is also evident in the Bank’s March 2013 Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan). This can be referred to as firms’ price-setting behavior in a deflationary environment.
The behaviour of employment would  1  M. Dao et P. Loungani (2010), “The Human Cost of Recessions: Assessing It, Reducing It,” IMF Staff Position Note No. SPN/10/17, International Monetary Fund, 11 November.