Historical Evaluation of Industrial Policies

This project aims at evaluating the major industrial policies implemented by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), by integrating economic analysis and a historical study. This policy evaluation project is expected to provide useful information and lessons not only for the people but also for the present policy makers. To be more specific, we plan to focus on such policies as the liberalization of trade and capital transactions, the promotion of machinery and electronics industries, and the regulation on opening of large-sized retail stores. Concerning these policies, we (a) investigate the process of policy making and implementation, as well as (b) estimate their effects quantitatively. For (a), we examine the original policy documents held by RIETI, and for (b), we conduct econometric analyses of quantitative data obtained from those original documents as well as from related statistics.

June 26, 2012 - December 31, 2013