The Political-Economic Dimension of Pensions: the Case of Japan

This article examines how pensions are interwoven with the public and private financial system in Japan and the consequences for pension reform. A growing literature focuses on the multifaceted ways in which pensions are interwoven with the larger political economy. This study builds on this literature and finds that (a) public and private pensions have been integrated deeply into Japan’s system of developmental finance, (b) this integration has created new economic and political problems as governments have attempted to shift away from its developmental model through deregulation, liberalization, and administrative reform, and (c) because pension reform is intimately linked with these reforms, it involves addressing fundamental issues regarding the role of the state, finance, and firms. These findings collectively illustrate that pension reform is not only driven by issues of fiscal viability and benefit levels, but also by the nature of the way in which pensions are integrated into a country’s system of finance

The Politics of Budgeting in Japan: How Much Do Institutions Matter?

In the past decade, the Japanese government has revamped its budget institutions twice. This paper examines how these changes have changed the configuration of power among the actors in the budget process. It also explores the implications of these changes for the management of the nation\u27s finances

A RETAIL EVALUATION OF PROMOTIONAL TACTICS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY

In an effort to ease communication between packaged goods manufacturers and retailers, this study investigates food retailers'Â’ preferences concerning the various promotional programs used in their stores. Through the use of a mail survey, retail executives from supermarket companies shared their perceptions of 22 specific promotional programs regarding each program'Â’s use, effectiveness, and attractiveness for future support. According to retailers, clear and consistent promotional performers include targeted direct mail, shipper displays, in-store coupons, in-ad coupons, and in-store demos and sampling. It is noted, however, that the use and perceived effectiveness of these programs may not always seem consistent. For example, retailers felt that promotions tied to local charities are relatively ineffective for increasing product movement or overall store sales, and yet this promotional tool is used by 92 percent of surveyed retailers. On the other hand, frequent shopper programs received favorable marks regarding program effectiveness, and yet they are not commonly used by retailers in this survey. Ultimately, the value that a retailer places on any given promotion is a function of that promotion'Â’s ability to meet stated retail objectives, which may extend beyond any hard sales statistics.Marketing,

Taxing Problems; Japan

Most Japanese have long given up waiting for Junichiro Koizumi to achieve anything bold. On July 9th, parliament made a mockery of yet another of the prime minister\u27s cherished causes, by passing a version of his postal-reform plans that fell far short of encouraging private competition

Japan in 2006: A Political Transition

Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro stepped down in September 2006 after a five-year term in which he reshaped Japanese politics by undermining his own party\u27s political machine, stretched the constraints on Japan\u27s military role, and promoted a program of “structural” economic reform. In his final year in office, he confronted a backlash against his economic reform program and presided over a chill in relations with China and South Korea. Abe Shinzo replaced Koizumi, pledging to repair relations with Japan\u27s neighbors and to promote a pro-growth economic strategy

Abductees in South Korea and Japan: Enhancing Trilateral Cooperation

As the North Korean threat has grown, so has the case for greater cooperation between South Korea and Japan. Observers have noted, and in some cases bemoaned, the lingering historical hostility that prevents more robust cooperation. Despite the emphasis on their historical differences, both countries share a tragic experience: the abduction of nationals by the North Korean regime. Unfortunately, the issue has not promoted common purpose and resolve. Instead, the failure to coordinate on this issue has hindered diplomacy without enhancing the chances of a resolution to this tragic issue. By increasing governmental and civic cooperation, Japan and South Korea as well as the U.S. can build trust, deepen ties, and recognize common values while at the same time enhancing the effectiveness of their diplomacy

The Tax-Welfare Mix: Explaining Japan’s Weak Extractive Capacity

Despite having the highest level of public debt in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), higher than Greece or Italy, Japan has one of the lowest aggregate tax burdens of the advanced industrial democracies. This paper asks why Japan, once described as a strong developmental state, has had such a weak extractive capacity, an inability to raise revenues to confront deficits and public debt? In contrast to the existing explanations that focus on political institutions, partisan preferences, or economic globalization, this article argues that Japan\u27s ‘tax–welfare mix’ – the combination of taxes and redistributive welfare polices – undermined the state\u27s long-term capacity to secure adequate tax revenue. More than just a source of revenue, taxes can be used directly to achieve redistributive goals, such as targeting low taxes and exemptions to specific groups. This study shows how Japan\u27s tax–welfare mix diminished its extractive capacity through three mechanisms: the political lock-in of a redistributive social bargain struck around low taxes, the timing and sequencing of its tax policy and welfare development, and the erosion of public trust, which undermined tax consent. Beyond offering a new theory of extractive capacity, the tax–welfare mix explains aspects of Japan\u27s tax structure that defy existing explanations and contributes to our understanding of the capitalist development state by highlighting the redistributive political function of tax policy and its long-term impact on state capacity

Japan Chair Platform: Japan\u27s Other Spending Problem

Since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, a combination of declining revenue growth, fiscal stimulus, and growing budget commitments have made Japan the most indebted country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Attention to Japan’s growing public debt problem increased in the wake of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis, and the issue of how to go about fixing Japan’s finances shot to the forefront during July’s Upper House election as competing political parties put forth ideas from trimming wasteful spending to increasing taxes to reducing budget deficits and debt. But until just a short while ago, a different kind of public spending problem consumed the domestic agenda. From the 1990s, various administrations expended a remarkable amount of energy and political capital trimming back public works spending, rationalizing and abolishing a panoply of public corporations, and privatizing the enormous postal savings system. The target of these reforms was not the formal budget, but a large off-budget system known as the Fiscal Investment Loan Program (FILP). After more than a decade of reform, FILP has died down as a political issue but deserves a fresh look as the government begins to address larger fiscal issues