In common with many other societies with ageing populations, loneliness and social isolation have become a significant problem in contemporary Japan. The financial burden associated with an ageing... Show moreIn common with many other societies with ageing populations, loneliness and social isolation have become a significant problem in contemporary Japan. The financial burden associated with an ageing population, together with ongoing fiscal austerity, has severely constrained the ability of local authorities to address the problem. As a result, policymakers have sought cost‐effective methods of tackling the problem, including local co‐production with community groups. In this article, we consider the impact of loneliness and social isolation on wellbeing and then examine two illustrative case studies of local co‐production programs aimed at tackling social isolation amongst older adults in Japan. Show less
A varied set of pressures drive organizational innovation. Among these pressures, demographic shifts seem to boost innovation, as the public sector responds to the arrival of migrants and to... Show moreA varied set of pressures drive organizational innovation. Among these pressures, demographic shifts seem to boost innovation, as the public sector responds to the arrival of migrants and to community changes in race and ethnic composition. However, we know little about innovation by governments in response to expected population decline. In particular, studies have under‐examined how anticipated demographic pressures prompt public organizations to innovate. This study undertakes this task by arguing that innovation is more visible in municipalities facing greater anticipated demographic decline. However, we also argue for a non‐linear relationship in which too strong and/or too weak expected demographic declines lead to less visible innovation (inverted U‐shape effect). These propositions were tested with a data set of Japanese municipalities and employing a dose–response model. Findings show that anticipated demographic declines directly boost innovation visibility. However, too strong and/or too weak unexpected demographic declines make innovation less visible. Show less
Municipal mergers have been widely used as a tool for administrative reform. The goal of most municipal mergers is to increase the efficiency of service provision, but their impact on local... Show moreMunicipal mergers have been widely used as a tool for administrative reform. The goal of most municipal mergers is to increase the efficiency of service provision, but their impact on local democracy has been neglected. In particular, little is known as to how mergers affect performance of local legislatures. In filling these gaps, this study uses a dataset of 754 Japanese city-level governments from 2008 to 2014 to examine how mergers influence legislative performance. After controlling for potential confounding factors, the analysis shows that municipal merger is negatively correlated to legislative performance. Show less
Municipal mergers have been widely used as a tool for administrative reform at the municipal level in various countries. While there are many studies of such reform initiatives, most have... Show moreMunicipal mergers have been widely used as a tool for administrative reform at the municipal level in various countries. While there are many studies of such reform initiatives, most have overlooked the issue of the unequal distribution of merger benefits among merged municipalities. This article responds to this research gap by assessing the impact of municipal mergers on local population growth in Japan – and, in doing so, appreciates that mergers differ within each of the merger partners, and also that the extent to which pre-merger municipalities can benefit from municipal mergers is contingent on their size relative to that of their merging partners. A unique dataset of Japanese local governments both pre-merger and post-merger facilitates an analysis of the impact of municipal mergers on local population growth. By employing propensity score-matching, it is found that, in Japan, municipal mergers negatively affect population growth for municipalities if they are not the largest municipalities among their merging partners. This finding suggests that not all pre-merger areas benefit from municipal mergers; rather, smaller municipalities are likely to incur considerable costs from municipal mergers. Show less
