ECONOMIC POLICY (JAPAN)

This is one of the main subjects of the degree programme in the field of social sciences.

Knowledge and understanding:
-knowing the main institutional sources on public finance in Japan
-understanding the relationship bewteen demographic trends and public finance
-knowing the main features of the Japanese welfare state and its structural problems
-knowing policies implemented in Japan to reform the welfare state in the past twenty years.

Applying knowledge and understanding:
-using institutional sources to research data on public finance in Japan
-recognizing which long term processes affect financial planning
-understanding the political reasons of fiscal choices by successive administrations

Making judgements:
-detecting information relevant to a research question, and organizing it so as to develop a consistent argumentation
-evaluating the effectiveness of policies implemented in Japan to ensure the sustainability of the welfare state

Communication:
-discussing topics covered in the course with appropriate language
-presenting an issue in a concise and effective manner, both speaking and using PowerPoint
-knowing how to write a reference list with appropriate style

-Basic knowledge of economic principles (LM5170 Principles of Economics or equivalent)
-Basic knowledge of the political system of contemporary Japan (LT0340 History of Japan 2 or equivalent)

How to read institutional sources / Domestic conditions: population decline, family structure, labour market / Approaches to public finance, 2001-20: Koizumi, DPJ, Abe cabinets / The welfare state: models, characteristics of the Japanese case / Welfare state and taxation / The consumption tax and its economic impact / Outlook for welfare reforms

A. Mandatory readings
-Conrad, Harald. 2017. “Social Policy Responses to the ‘Gap Society’: The Structural Limitations of the Japanese Welfare State and Related Official Discourses since the 1990s”. In Social Inequality in Post-Growth Japan: Transformation during Economic and Demographic Stagnation, pp. 121-133, ed. David Chiavacci, Carola Hommerich. Abingdon: Routledge. [pdf su Moodle]
-Kidera Hajime. 2017. “Shōhizei zōzei: Shakai hoshō tono ittai kaikaku”. In Futatsu no seiken kōtai: seisaku wa kawatta noka, pp. 152-179, ed. Takenaka Harukata. Tokyo: Keisō shobō. [pdf su Moodle]
-Mochida Nobuki. 2019. Nihon no zaisei to shakai hoshō: Kyūfu to futan no shōrai bijon. Tokyo: Tōyō keizai shinpōsha. Capp. 2, 5, 6, 7. [pdf su Moodle]
-Yamasaki Shirō. 2017. Jinkō genshō to shakai hoshō: Koritsu to shukushō o norikoeru. Tokyo: Chūō kōron shinsha. Capp. 1-2. [pdf su Moodle]

B. References for research on the Internet
Available on Moodle

Final written test: three questions based on the mandatory readings.
Attending students are also required to deliver a powerpoint presentation on an assigned topic.
Students who do not attend lessons should contact the professor at the start of the semester. A written report on an assigned topic will substitute the presentation.

Conventional, teamwork, discussion in class
Further readings and ppt presentations available on the Moodle platform.

Italian

written