Research On Japan’s Agricultural Support Policy

Japan’s agricultural support policy started as early as after World War Ⅱ.Based on establishing the farmland system and the agricultural association system,Japan began to implement the agricultural support policy.The formulation and evolution of agricultural support policy is essentially a process in which Japan continuously adjusts policy tools and improves agricultural structure according to the development goals of agricultural policy.The biggest feature of Japan’s agricultural support policy is that to increase crop output,ensure food security,and promote the development of multi-functional agriculture,special support is given to the agricultural areas in the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas with unfavorable geographical conditions and high production costs.It is committed to the dynamic balance of cultivated land,reducing agricultural costs,and improving agricultural economic benefits.However,Japan still faces serious agricultural hollowing problems.Regional differentiation and industrial structure upgrading have led to the continuous flow of agricultural labor into the secondary and tertiary industries of cities,further deepening the abandonment of cultivated land in counties and cities,accelerating the aging of the rural population,and the serious shortage of young and middle-aged labor.Under the influence of such complex situations as the long-term outbreak of COVID-19 and the escalation of international and regional conflicts,Japan’s food security is facing new severe challenges,highlighting the inevitability of strengthening and upgrading agricultural support policies for the weakness of Japan’s agriculture.China also faces the same problem.Therefore,the topic selection of this paper has important theoretical significance and practical pertinence.The thesis consists of four main parts.Firstly,this thesis makes a general analysis of agricultural support policies and discusses the relevant theories of agricultural support policies.Based on defining the connotation of agricultural support policy,and investigating its classification criteria,types,and characteristics,this paper sorts out the weak nature theory,externality theory,non-traditional security theory of Copenhagen school,general equilibrium theory to support Japan’s agricultural support policy.Secondly,this thesis studies the evolution,main contents,and guarantee system of Japan’s agricultural support policy.Japan’s agricultural support policy has mainly experienced three stages:the period of agricultural production recovery based on price support policies,the period of agricultural structural adjustment in which price support policies are based to transition to production support policies,and the period of agricultural green development based on direct subsidy policies;Focusing on the basic agricultural law in different periods,the Japanese government has provided complete laws and regulations for agricultural support policies through the construction of the agricultural land system,agricultural business entity training system,rural financial system,and agricultural association system;The integrated framework jointly promoted by administrative organizations,industry organizations and legal person organizations provides organizational guarantee for agricultural support policies.Thirdly,this thesis evaluates the implementation effect,spatial heterogeneity,and economic effect of Japan’s agricultural support policies.Japan’s agricultural support policy has played a positive role in ensuring food security,promoting the development of the agricultural sector,stabilizing cultivated land and farmers’income,promoting mechanization and agricultural multi-functional development,and playing an important role in maintaining the survival of the agricultural industry,but it has brought or failed to improve problems such as regionalization and industrial structure imbalance.Secondly,the DEA Malmquist index method is used to calculate the agricultural total factor productivity of Japan’s prefectures and prefectures,and the empirical analysis of spatial heterogeneity is carried out.The conclusions are as follows:the agricultural total factor productivity among regions in Japan shows spatial heterogeneity,and the agricultural production efficiency in the main grain-producing areas declines more than that in the main grain selling areas;The agricultural technological progress in the main grain-producing areas has entered a relatively stable stage,and there has been no obvious technological progress;The effect of agricultural support policy is more obvious in the backward areas because of the late development advantage,which indicates that the universal agricultural support policy may affect the optimal allocation of agricultural production resources.The government should set up differentiated general service support measures according to the main grain production areas and main sales areas.For example,subsidies for scientific research and technology extension are set up in major grain-producing areas to reduce the degree of regional differentiation,and to improve the effectiveness of agricultural policy support.Thirdly,it evaluates the economic effects of Japan’s agricultural support policies,including the impact on the industrial structure and the analysis of the correlation between industries.Using the annual data from 1986 to 2019 and the input-output table in 2015,this paper empirically analyzes the long-term impact of Japan’s agricultural support policies on the agricultural structure through the error correction model,constructs a multisectoral DSGE model based on the correlation between industries using quarterly data,reveals the substitution and complementarity between agriculture and other industries from both theoretical and empirical aspects,and further explains the reasons for short-term economic fluctuations caused by agricultural support policies,Three conclusions are drawn.Whether Total Support Estimate(TSE),Producer Support Estimate(PSE),Consumer Support Estimate(CSE),or General Service Support Estimate(GSSE),there is a long-term cointegration relationship with the agricultural share in the industrial structure.The multisectoral DSGE theoretical model of industry correlation shows that stimulating agriculture alone will not necessarily improve Japan’s agricultural security and stimulate economic growth.It is necessary to comprehensively consider the substitutability and complementarity between different industrial sectors.Although the government’s agricultural stimulus measures,such as improving the level of agricultural support,have no obvious pulling effect on the overall economic level of the society,their impact on sub-industries is complex and nonlinear.When the agricultural sector is impacted by a positive exogenous impact,it only has a negative impact on the transportation and storage industry in the first phase,and then shows a positive impact,while it has a certain degree of negative or positive and negative cross-impact on the manufacturing industry,other service industries,construction,and real estate industries,electricity,fuel and water supply industry and mining industry,with a significant substitution effect.From the short-term impact on agriculture of the seven industrial sectors stimulated by DSGE after being impacted by real factors,the increase of total output has the strongest pulling effect on agriculture,followed by the improvement of agricultural productivity.Other industries can only have a small positive pull on agriculture after being impacted,and the effect is not obvious.There are similarities in the economic effects of agricultural support policies between China and Japan.The results of the VAR model of China’s agricultural support policies show that there is only a one-way Granger causality between the agricultural share in the industrial structure and general service support and consumer support,indicating that agricultural support policies can indeed benefit the agricultural sector,but Objectively,there is also a need to continue to promote rural infrastructure construction;The multisectoral DSGE model shows that China’s seven sector industries have a positive pulling effect on agriculture and a high degree of dependence on other industries,while other industries have not formed significant positive feedback on agriculture.Therefore,like in Japan,agricultural support policies are difficult to have a positive effect on China’s economy as a whole,while reducing agricultural subsidies to invest in other industries will have a significant crowding-out and substitution effect on agriculture,which is easy to make the government fall into a "prisoner’s dilemma",and it is difficult to formulate targeted agricultural support policies.Fourthly,this thesis summarizes the experience and lessons of Japan’s agricultural support policy and explores the beneficial enlightenment of the dynamic adjustment and development of China’s agricultural support policy.The main experiences of Japan’s agricultural support policies include reducing production costs in areas with unfavorable natural conditions and narrowing regional differences in agricultural production;Adhere to and developing "environmental protection type" agriculture;Attach importance to the construction of agricultural socialized service organizations with agricultural associations as the main body,to organically connect small farmers with modern agriculture;Implement differentiated subsidy measures according to key varieties to ensure the production of staple food crops and important agricultural products.In addition,if the formulation of subsidy standards and policy objectives related to agricultural support policies is divorced from reality,it will cause structural problems such as overproduction;The huge and rigid agricultural support is seriously constrained by the financial budget.There are some problems in China’s agricultural support policies,such as insufficient support for agriculture in the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas,unreasonable support structure,lack of central or local unified subsidy standards for agricultural land preparation,and weak mechanization and organizational support.It is a reasonable choice for China to strengthen the support for agricultural production in backward areas,improve the agricultural support structure,strengthen environmental protection,agricultural multi-function,and the construction of agricultural socialized service organizations.