Suchergebnisse

What is the source of the increasing politicization of Japan's budgetary policy? Takaaki Suzuki explores this question, finding the answer in the the interplay of domestic and international politics from the early 1970s through the 1990s. Suzuki points out that, just as modern state leaders must strike a balance between the appropriate roles of the market and the state in determining how scarce resources are to be allocated internally, so must they continually negotiate with their foreign counterparts to foster freer international markets while mitigating the social costs they entail. States are confronted with the challenge of devising budgetary policies that accomodate both domestic and international concerns; Suzuki offers a cogent account of how the Japanese state has responded to this challenge

"Mr. Clean" and the Budgetary CrisisThe Fiscal Gambit of Fukuda Takeo; Notes; Chapter 5- Analysis: Assessing the Two-Level Hypothesis for the 1970s; Notes; Part 3- Policy in the 1980s; Introduction; Chapter 6- Failing Cooperation: Macroeconomic Coordination at a Standstill; The Rekindled Debate over Macroeconomic Coordination; Bonn II and Tokyo II: Summits Without Success; After Tokyo II: Renewed Pressures, Token Concessions; Notes; Chapter 7- The Politics of Budgetary Retrenchment ; The Initial Setting: The Political Legacy of Deficit Financing

This article examines the curious non-death of neoliberalism in Japan. After initial predictions about the end of neoliberalism in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, more recent analysis, focusing primarily on the United States and Western European cases, have turned their attention to explaining the "resilience" or "non-death" of neoliberalism. I seek to contribute to this analysis by examining the case of Japan, a country that has faced three major financial crises since it began to embrace neoliberal policies and practices in the 1980s. I demonstrate that the Japanese state has scaled back its role in many of the functionally equivalent forms of welfare that were associated with the developmental state model that Japan adopted in the early decades of the post-war era. Moreover, despite these cutbacks, and in contrast to the predictions made by many observers of Japanese politics, I further show that there has not been a corresponding rise in more formal and universalistic forms of welfare for the working age population that would help mitigate the rise in the level of social stratification and risk in Japan caused by these cutbacks. Instead, I show that many formal welfare benefits have been cut back even as spending has risen, and the various tax and labour reform policies that have been adopted since the 1980s have further eroded the level of social equality and income security in Japan.

Have the characteristics of the Japanese state changed since the collapse of the international economic system of 'embedded liberalism 'that was constructed at the end of the Second World War? And, if so, in what respects? An examination of Japan's macroeconomic policy and the structure of public finances since the 1980s supplies an answer to these questions. Contrary to what is claimed in much of the extant literature, the Japanese state has clearly undergone significant transformation. Indeed, while the state has taken a lesser role in industrial policy and matters relating to the social domain (both historically significant areas of action in the developmental state model), the overall place of the state has grown, not shrunk, as it now assumes a greater (if less visible) role in preserving the stability of a liberalized, finance-driven market. In Japan, the characteristics of the state have considerably changed in both qualitative and quantitative terms, changes that can be described as a neoliberal hybridization of the developmental state model. Adapted from the source document.

The once-formidable Japanese economy has fallen upon hard times. After posting a roughly double-digit rate of real annual growth from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, and generally outperforming the economies of other advanced industrial democracies during the 1970s and 1980s, the Japanese economy suffered a prolonged period of stagnation throughout most of the 1990s. Given this dramatic reversal, Bai Gao sets about the ambitious task not only of explaining why the Japanese economy has soured, but of providing a broad institutional framework that underscores the common factors behind the high growth period, the bubble economy of the 1980s, and the collapse of the bubble in the 1990s. To achieve this task, Gao applies what he terms "the logic of reverse reasoning"; he takes the rise and collapse of the bubble economy as the "starting point fortheoretical reasoning," examining the institutional mechanisms that purportedly produced it. He then works backward in time to reexamine how these institutional mechanisms operated during the high-growth era, and to identify the "environmental changes" that account for the reasons these institutional mechanisms produced such varied outcomes over time (pp. 6–7).

BACKGROUND: The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an invasive, non-native species in Japan. Throughout the country, it causes significant agricultural damage and negatively affects native biodiversity. Most of the responsibility for raccoon management lies with local government, and there are still many challenges to be overcome. Although raccoon populations have not been eradicated, intensive control campaigns such as focus on the early stages of invasion have controlled raccoons in some regions. To improve the national management of raccoons, we conducted a survey on raccoon management systems in local government departments considered to solve the challenges recognized in many areas. During 2014 and 2015, we surveyed three different municipal departments about raccoon management measures. The semi-structured interview survey covered two topics: (1) the situation leading up to the current management system; (2) the current management system. RESULTS: Our results describe the scope and methods used in raccoon management. The government staff managed raccoons using monitoring, employing a variety of methods, a range of budgets, and various role divisions. The management practices are similar in that they share a sense of taking precautions, collaborating with stakeholders, understanding that adequate methods must be used, and obtaining support from experts. CONCLUSIONS: Our case studies reveal the challenges in raccoon management faced by local government officers in regions with active control. The management systems and methods that we surveyed seemed to be effective in solving problems in both developed and undeveloped areas.

Context
In Japan, the raccoon is an invasive, non-native mammal that causes significant agricultural damage and impacts on native biodiversity throughout the country. Local governments are mainly responsible for raccoon management. Intensive control campaigns focused on the early invasion stage have controlled raccoons in some regions but, generally, there are very few regions where raccoon numbers have been reduced sustainably, and no raccoon populations have been eradicated.

Aims
To improve national management of raccoons and canvass the opinions and perceptions of local government officers involved in raccoon control, and to review the efficiency and effectiveness of raccoon management strategies.

Methods
A questionnaire survey of 47 prefectural and 366 municipal governments was conducted, regarding raccoon management measures, during 2012 and 2013. The survey covered two topics: (1) management difficulties experienced by officers; and (2) details of the current raccoon management regime.

Key results
Efforts to manage raccoon populations have encountered some difficulties, including shortages of raccoon control officers, funding, expertise in raccoon biology and management, and lack of information about the invasion status of local raccoon populations and ecological traits of raccoons. Prefectures not currently managing raccoons indicated that they suffered from a lack of appropriate management procedures. However, current management programs were not generally functioning efficiently or effectively because many local governments did not implement appropriate monitoring. About 70% of local governments did not set control target indices, and there were very few quantitative datasets that could be used to measure the effectiveness of control in reducing raccoon impacts.

Conclusions
Best practice management programs have been being implemented in very few government areas, with institutional characteristics and difficulties in obtaining relevant information causing major problems.

Implications
Collecting and sharing information about effective raccoon management methods and case study examples from successful regions would enable other local administrations to select and implement the most effective and efficient control strategy, methods and monitoring program for their region.