Take-home Midterm Examination

Japanese Economy in Transition

2021/05/18

Answer to all the questions. The answers must be simple and short. A simple copy of my lecture note will be downgraded. Follow the following instruction.

1. Convert your file to a PDF format (.pdf). No other format will be accepted.

2. Name the file as <LAST-First-Course title> like <YAMADA-Taro-Economy>

3. Upload your pdf file to my JTW-economy folder at the file sharing system of the Kyushu University by Saturday, June 5. No late submission will be accepted

4. Do not send your work by e-mail. Do not bring it to my office in a USB memory. Thank you for your cooperation

A. Revitalizing Regional Economy

1. Why does the 18-years-old population have two peaks after the WWI?

2. What is definition of the large urban area by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?

3. Rank the 5 large urban areas in Japan by population.

4. Why is population aging more serious in the Tokyo metropolitan area than in the rural areas?

5. In comparison of prefectural income per population, Shizuoka and Toyama are highly ranked. Explain why they are so.

6. Why has the gap in labor productivity across prefectures decreased in the postwar Japanese economy?

B. Urban-Regional Redistribution and the Heisei Mergers of Local Municipals

7. Explain the Local Allocation Tax (LAT) grants. How is the transfer size determined?

8. Compare the tax revenues and government subsidies across prefectures.

9. What is the moral hazard problem of the LAT?

10. Under the Heisei Municipal Merger framework, many local municipals merged with each other in 2000s. What are the merits and demerits of the municipal mergers?

11. Some municipals remain independent. Why?

12. Tell me the tragedy of the Yubari City.

13. What are the merits of the prefectural mergers?

14. What is the “Osaka Metropolitan” plan?

15. What are the 20 designated cities?

E. Young People Move Across Regions

16. Why do some prefectures (like Nagano prefecture) municipalize local private universities?

17. What is the role of Tokyo and Kyoto prefectures in the distributions of young people within Japan?

18. How is Japan different from Europe in the comparison of private returns to go to universities?

19. How is Japan different from Europe in the comparison of public returns to go to universities?

20. What are the characteristics of the Center cities like Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, in terms of regional economy accounting?