Analysis on Service Industries: Productivity, Economic Welfare, and Policy Evaluation

Productivity in the Japanese service industry has been stagnating for over 40 years since the 1970s. The share of the service industry's value added in the total Japanese economy has reached around 70% in recent years, and the recovery of productivity growth in this industry is the key to sustaining higher economic growth and higher productivity improvement.

In order to shape the policy agenda toward the recovery of productivity growth in the service industry in Japan, we will conduct a study on the determinants of productivity growth and competitiveness in both the education and healthcare industries, which are little known in previous literature. In addition, we will also analyze the effects of investments in information and communications technology (ICT) and human capital on productivity growth in the Japanese service industry, and examine the effects of deregulation which leads to more efficient resource allocation and higher productivity growth in the service industry.

April 15, 2013 - March 31, 2015