![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Ageing populations have been identified as a looming fiscal threat to many developed nations across the world. However, in Japan, both the scale of the problem and the institutional context is such that it represents a rather desperate predicament. Within the next 25 years it is projected that over a quarter of Japan’s local governments will have the majority of their population composed of senior citizens. This is problematic because as populations age, needs increase but revenue capacity simultaneously decreases. We apply a commonly employed success framework with a view to demonstrating how it can be used to guide implementation of some of the most prominent policies thus far canvassed in Japan to mitigate these fiscal challenges. We conclude with some comments regarding the importance of good policy design to successfully navigate the age of the aged.
KEYWORDS:
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. In addition, death duties may apply to the inheritance.
2. Buses required to transport aged persons to doctors’ surgeries, shops, and so on.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Masato Miyazaki
Masato Miyazaki is an associate professor of the Faculty of Economics at Saitama University, and an adjunct associate professor of the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney. His research interests focus on local public finance, expenditure and intergovernmental grants.
Joseph Drew
Joseph Drew is an associate professor of public policy and local government at the University of Technology Sydney, and an adjunct professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University. His principal research interests are government financial sustainability, performance monitoring, natural law philosophy, and the art of selling public policy. His new book, Reforming Local Government, was published by Springer in 2020.