Research on the Liberalist Reforms of the Public-Private Relationship and the Establishment of the Third Sector in Japan

The present research aims to offer a specific plan for the liberalist reforms of the relationship between the public and private sectors and to identify the challenges and the direction to be taken to restructure the third sector through the reforms. This is to be done by researching and studying the real picture of the public-private relationship as seen in regulations, commissioning and subsidiaries between government agencies and the third-sector organizations concerned, as well as the business status of the third-sector organizations therein, in each policy area such as elderly care, welfare services for the disabled, childcare, education and medical care, or in a cross-sectoral manner. Here, the process is referred to as a liberalist reform as we think that introducing drastic reforms in the existing public-private relationship, toward encouraging free and transparent competition among diverse providers and offering choice to users, is indispensable in order to ensure efficient and high-quality public services in our country. The research is performed through analysis of the results of the fourth questionnaire survey, hearings from the persons concerned, and visiting surveys.

May 18, 2015 - March 31, 2017