Take-home Final Examination

Japanese Economy in Transition

2024/06/27

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 Friday July 19. 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. Urban-Regional Redistribution and the Heisei Mergers of Local Municipals

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

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

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

4. 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?

5. Some municipals remain independent. Why?

6. Tell me the tragedy of the Yubari City.

7. What are the merits of the prefectural mergers?

8. What is the “Osaka Metropolitan” plan?

9. What are the 20 designated cities?

B. Tourism

10. Describe the process that Japan’s tourism industry recovered from the damage caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic.

11. How does the current trend in the number of foreign visitors to Japan differ from the trend in the number of Japanese citizens going abroad? What makes this difference?

12. Does tourism drive economic growth of Japan? Discuss.

13. What is the InbounDon? What does it symbolize?

14. What is the major problem of the current increase in the number of visitors to Japan?

15. Why are there so many national holidays in Japan?

16. Explain why Japanese employees are reluctant to take holidays on their will?

17. What is the purpose of the government's policy of staggering the holidays to different periods in different regions?

C. Why do young people move across regions>

18. Why do local governments municipalize regional private universities?

19. What are the unique characteristics of Tokyo and Kyoto prefectures that affect the actions by high school graduates?

20. What types of disadvantages do the high school graduates in rural area suffer in their decision after graduation?

21. What is the private return to invest in higher education?

22. What is the public return to invest in higher education?

23. What is Japan’s uniqueness in private and public returns to invest in higher education?

24. Why is the private return to invest in higher education in Japan not so high as in US and Europe?

25. Why is the private return for woman so low in Japan?

26. Should Japan increase government subsidies to higher education institutes? Why?

D. Inequality

27. Is Japan an equal or unequal country in the comparison with other countries?

28. Which policy of taxation or social security is more effective in redistributing income in Japan?

29. What is the horizontal efficiency of income support program offered by the government?

30. What is the vertical efficiency of income support program offered by the government?

31. What can be said on Japan’s ISP?

32. How does Ohtake (2005) explain the increasing inequality of Japan in the last several decades?

33. Why does the inequality across households increase recently?

34. Autor (2013) argues that polarization of jobs increases inequality. Explain it.

35. What is the Elephant Curve? What does it explain?

E. Read the slide and answer to the questions.