IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/oec/ecoaaa/1262-en.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Achieving Fiscal Consolidation while Promoting Social Cohesion in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Randall S. Jones

    (OECD)

  • Kohei Fukawa

    (OECD)

Abstract

With gross government debt of 226% of GDP, Japan’s fiscal situation is in uncharted territory and puts the economy at risk. Japan needs a detailed and credible fiscal consolidation plan, including specific revenue increases and measures to control spending to restore its fiscal sustainability. The major concern on the spending side are social spending pressures in the context of rapid population ageing, making reforms to contain such spending a priority. Much of the consolidation, though, will have to be on the revenue side, primarily through hikes in the consumption tax rate beyond the 10% now planned for 2017. Fiscal consolidation should be accompanied by measures to promote social cohesion through the tax and benefit system and by breaking down labour market dualism. In particular, an earned income tax credit is a priority to assist the working poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Randall S. Jones & Kohei Fukawa, 2015. "Achieving Fiscal Consolidation while Promoting Social Cohesion in Japan," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1262, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1262-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5jrtpbs9fg0v-en
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1787/5jrtpbs9fg0v-en
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1787/5jrtpbs9fg0v-en?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenichiro Kashiwase & Mr. Masahiro Nozaki & Kiichi Tokuoka, 2012. "Pension Reforms in Japan," IMF Working Papers 2012/285, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Robert P. Hagemann, 2010. "Improving Fiscal Performance Through Fiscal Councils," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 829, OECD Publishing.
    3. Ruud A. de Mooij & Ikuo Saito, 2014. "Japan’s Corporate Income Tax: Facts, Issues and Reform Options," IMF Working Papers 2014/138, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Yvan Guillemette & Jan Stráský, 2014. "Japan's challenging debt dynamics," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2014(1), pages 97-108.
    5. Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2014. "The Effect of Patient Cost Sharing on Utilization, Health, and Risk Protection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2152-2184, July.
    6. Lars Calmfors, 2011. "The Role of Independent Fiscal Policy Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 3367, CESifo.
    7. Ms. Anja Baum & Mr. Marcos Poplawski Ribeiro & Miss Anke Weber, 2012. "Fiscal Multipliers and the State of the Economy," IMF Working Papers 2012/286, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Yoshio Higuchi, 2013. "The Dynamics of Poverty and the Promotion of Transition from Non-Regular to Regular Employment in Japan: Economic Effects of Minimum Wage Revision and Job Training Support," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 147-200, June.
    9. Jens Matthias Arnold & Bert Brys & Christopher Heady & Åsa Johansson & Cyrille Schwellnus & Laura Vartia, 2011. "Tax Policy for Economic Recovery and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(550), pages 59-80, February.
    10. Randall S. Jones, 2009. "Health-Care Reform in Japan: Controlling Costs, Improving Quality and Ensuring Equity," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 739, OECD Publishing.
    11. Mr. Masahiro Nozaki & Kenichiro Kashiwase & Ikuo Saito, 2014. "Health Spending in Japan: Macro-Fiscal Implications and Reform Options," IMF Working Papers 2014/142, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Naoki Ikegami, 2014. "Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development : Lessons from Japan," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 20412.
    13. Cyrille Schwellnus & Jens Matthias Arnold, 2008. "Do Corporate Taxes Reduce Productivity and Investment at the Firm Level?: Cross-Country Evidence from the Amadeus Dataset," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 641, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hyejin Ko, 2020. "Measuring fiscal sustainability in the welfare state: fiscal space as fiscal sustainability," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 531-554, May.
    2. Randall S. Jones & Kohei Fukawa, 2017. "Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability in Japan in the Context of a Shrinking and Ageing Population," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1413, OECD Publishing.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Randall S. Jones & Kohei Fukawa, 2017. "Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability in Japan in the Context of a Shrinking and Ageing Population," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1413, OECD Publishing.
    2. Carolina Correa-Caro & Leandro Medina & Marcos Poplawski-Ribeiro & Bennett Sutton, 2021. "Fiscal Stimulus and Firms’ Sales and Capital Expenditure During the Global Financial Crisis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(3), pages 489-535, September.
    3. Randall S. Jones & Satoshi Urasawa, 2013. "Restoring Japan's Fiscal Sustainability," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1050, OECD Publishing.
    4. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2021. "Structural Tax Reforms and Public Spending Efficiency," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 1017-1061, November.
    5. Balázs Égert, 2021. "Investment in OECD Countries: a Primer," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(2), pages 200-223, June.
    6. Desiderio Romero-Jordán & Ismael Sanz-Labrador & José Félix Sanz-Sanz, 2020. "Is the corporation tax a barrier to productivity growth?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 23-38, June.
    7. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz, 2012. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch-Up: Evidence from 11 European Countries," Discussion Papers 12/06, University of Nottingham, School of Economics.
    8. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz & José F. Sanz‐Sanz, 2018. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch‐Up: Evidence from European Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(2), pages 372-399, April.
    9. Mr. Masahiro Nozaki & Kenichiro Kashiwase & Ikuo Saito, 2014. "Health Spending in Japan: Macro-Fiscal Implications and Reform Options," IMF Working Papers 2014/142, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Oguzhan Akgun & Boris Cournède & Jean-Marc Fournier, 2017. "The effects of the tax mix on inequality and growth," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1447, OECD Publishing.
    11. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Does business regulation matter for banks in the European Union?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 278-324.
    12. Alena Andrejovská & Monika Hudáková, 2016. "Classification of EU Countries in the Context of Corporate Income Tax," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(5), pages 1699-1708.
    13. Ryta Dziemianowicz, 2014. "Independent Fiscal Institutions As A Tool Of Fiscal Governance," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 9(1), pages 59-70, March.
    14. Nozaki, Masahiro & Kashiwase, Kenichiro & Saito, Ikuo, 2017. "Health spending in Japan: Macro-fiscal implications and reform options," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 156-171.
    15. Boris Cournède & Antoine Goujard & Álvaro Pina, 2013. "How to Achieve Growth- and Equity-friendly Fiscal Consolidation?: A Proposed Methodology for Instrument Choice with an Illustrative Application to OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1088, OECD Publishing.
    16. Brieuc Monfort, 2015. "Can Increased Public Expenditure Efficiency Contribute to the Consolidation of Public Finances in Japan?," Working Papers halshs-01548620, HAL.
    17. Henrique S. Basso & James Costain, 2017. "Fiscal delegation in a monetary union: instrument assignment and stabilization properties," Working Papers 1710, Banco de España.
    18. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz & José F. Sanz‐Sanz, 2018. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch‐Up: Evidence from European Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(2), pages 372-399, April.
    19. Lars Calmfors, 2012. "The Swedish Fiscal Policy Council: Watchdog with a Broad Remit," CESifo Working Paper Series 3725, CESifo.
    20. Jing Xing, 2011. "Does tax structure affect economic growth? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Working Papers 1120, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Abenomics; fiscal policy; healthcare; Japan; social security;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1262-en. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/edoecfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.