The Smart Power of Abenomics: Shadows of Japanization and Long-term Challenges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46991/JOPS/2023.2.5.100

Keywords:

Japan, Japanization, Abenomics, reforms, spatial concertation, cluster analysis, savings, Abe Doctrine

Abstract

This article discusses the main tasks of the smart power of Abenomics as the basis of the anti-crisis economic policy of modern Japan. The idea is argued that the Abe government proposed a program known as the “Three Arrows of Abenomics”, the implementation of which helped Japan get out of deflation, but the economic growth potential remained extremely low.

This economic policy was unique in that the whole range of its measures was adapted to the specifics of the Japanese economy or Japanization.

The experience of modern Japan in the fight against economic stagnation is undoubtedly very valuable for many countries. Having studied the main stages of economic policy, as well as the difficulties faced by Japan during its implementation, each country will develop its own strategy to combat the economic crisis and stagnation, adapted to the characteristics of each of the states.

This article analyzes key aspects of the Abenomics economic reform package. In addition to characterizing individual measures, it focuses on the analysis of outcomes such as deflation, weak economic growth or labor market rigidity.

The characteristic features of the so-called new arrows of Abenomics are identified and described, which respond to the successes achieved, as well as to the new challenges of the Japanese economy.

Author Biographies

Simona Chuguryan, Alexander Dubček University in Trencin

PhD, Assistant Professor of the Department of Political Science at Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, Slovakia

Kristina Baculakova, University of Economics in Bratislava

Assistant Professor of the Department of International Economic Relations and Economic Diplomacy, Vice-Dean for International Relations at University of Economics in Bratislava

Rudolf Kucharcik, University of Economics in Bratislava

Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, Dr., Assistant Professor of the Department of International Political Relations at University of Economics in Bratislava

References

Adachi, Yoshimi. 2018. Prologue: Outlook and Challenges for Social Security Finances. In: The Economics of Tax and Social Security in Japan. Springer, Singapore, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7176-8_1.

Aoyagi, Chie, and Giovanni Ganelli. 2015. “Labor Market Reform: Vital to the Success of Abenomics.” In: Can Abenomics Succeed? Overcoming the Legacy of Japan’s Lost Decades, edited by Dennis P. J. Botman, Stephan Danninger, and Jerald Alan Schiff. Washington: International Monetary Fund.

Aramaki, Kenji. 2018a. The Financial Crisis and Its Impacts, Long Recovery, and Afterward. In: Japan’s Long Stagnation, Deflation, and Abenomics, 129-188. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2176-4_4.

Aramaki, Kenji. 2018b. Abenomics and Challenges for the Japanese Economy. In: Japan’s Long Stagnation, Deflation, and Abenomics, 285-340. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2176-4_7.

Armstrong, Shiro, and Shujiro Urata. 2023. “‘Japan First’? Economic security in a world of uncertainty.” Navigating Prosperity and Security in East Asia: 87-118. https://doi.org/10.22459/NPSEA.2023.05.

Armstrong, Shiro. 2021. “Economic Diplomacy and Economic Security under Abe.” Asian Economic Policy Review 16 (2): 283-299. https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12335.

Bobowski, Sebastian, and Boguslawa Drelich-Skulska. 2016. “After Three Years of Abenomics. Challenges and Recommendations for the Economic Revitalisation Policy in Japan.” Transformations in Business and Economics 15 (2A) (38A): 434-458

Brocková, Katarina, and Ludmila Lipková. 2018. “Contemporary Protectionism - Trade War Between the U.S. and the Rest of the World.” Medzinárodné vzťahy / Journal of International XVI (2): 324-338.

Chiavacci, David, and Sébastien Lechevalier. 2017. “Japanese political economy revisited: diverse corporate change, institutional transformation, and Abenomics.” Japan Forum 29 (3): 299-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/09555803.2017.1284147.

Dobson, Hugo. 2017. “Is Japan Really Back? The “Abe Doctrine” and Global Governance.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 47 (2): 199-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2016.1257044.

Fukuda, Shin-ichi. 2012. “Market-specific and Currency-specific Risk during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Interbank Markets in Tokyo and London.” Journal of Banking and Finance 36 (12): 3185-3196.

Fukuda, Shin-ichi. 2015. “Abenomics: Why was it so successful in changing market expectations?” Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 37 (C): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjie.2015.05.006.

Glawe, Linda, and Helmut Wagner. 2021. “Japan’s Catching-Up Process.” In: The Economic Rise of East Asia. Contributions to Economics, 15-65. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87128-4_2.

Grabowiecki Jerzy, 2019. “Abenomics: from the “Great Stagnation” to the “Three-Arrows Strategy”.” International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy 55 (3): 201-211. https://doi.org/10.2478/ijme-2019-0018.

Hausman, Joshua K., and Johannes F. Wieland, 2015. “Overcoming the Lost Decades? Abenomics after Three Years.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution 46 (2 (Fall)): 385-431.

Hayashida, Minoru, Masaya Yasuoka, Ryoichi Nanba, and Hiroyuki Ohno. 2018. “Will Abenomics Expand Employment?–Interpreting Abenomics Through DSGE Modeling.” In: Applied Analysis of Growth, Trade, and Public Policy: Ten Years of International Academic Exchanges Between JAAE and KEBA, edited by Moriki Hosoe, Iltae Kim, Masahiro Yabuta, and Woohyung Lee, 187-207. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1876-4_13.

Hirano, Mariko. 2020. “Abenomics recovery stopped in tracks by coronavirus: Japan downgrades view to ‘severe situation,’ closing book on six-year run..” Nikkei Inc., March 27, 2020. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Abenomics-recovery-stopped-in-tracks-by-coronavirus.

Hoshi, Takeo, and Phillip Y. Lipscy, eds. 2021. “Third Arrow of Abenomics.” Part. In: The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms, 269-476. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921145.

Hughes, Christopher W. 2015a. “Introduction: From ‘Yoshida Doctrine’ to ‘Abe Doctrine’?” In: Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy Under the ‘Abe Doctrine’: New Dynamism or New Dead End?. Palgrave Pivot, London, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137514257_1.

Hughes, Christopher W. 2015b. “The Origins and Ideological Drivers of the ‘Abe Doctrine’”. In: Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy Under the ‘Abe Doctrine’: New Dynamism or New Dead End?. Palgrave Pivot, London, 8-27. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137514257_2.

Ito, Takatoshi. 2021a. “An Assessment of Abenomics: Evolution and Achievements.” Asian Economic Policy Review 16: 190-219. https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12353.

Ito, Takatoshi. 2021b. “The Third Arrow of Abenomics: Est. in 2013 - or 2007?” In: The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms, edited by Takeo Hoshi and Phillip Y. Lipscy, 109-136. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921145.005.

Jones, Randall S. 2013. “An OECD Assessment of “Abenomics.” “Abenomics” & the Future of the Japanese Economy, Japan spotlight (September/October): 8-12.

Kondo, Yoshihiro, Yoshiyuki Nakazono, Rui Ota, and Qing-Yuan Sui. 2020. “Heterogeneous impacts of Abenomics on the stock market: A Fund flow analysis.” Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 55 (C). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjie.2019.101053.

Kushida, Kenji E. 2018. “Abenomics and Japan’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Is the Third Arrow Pointed in the Right Direction for Global Competition in the Digital Era of Silicon Valley?” SVNJ Working Paper 1. Stanford University. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/abenomics_ans_japans_entrepreneurship_and_innovation.pdf.

Lipková, Ludmila, Katarina Brocková, and Andrianna Baleha. 2020. “Labour migration in Central Asia. Economic factors of influence.” Economic Annals-XXI 184 (7-8): 38-48. https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V184-04

OECD. 2014. Japan advancing the third arrow for a resilient economy and inclusive growth. OECD “Better Policies” Series. Paris. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://www.oecd.org/japan/2014.04_JAPAN_EN.pdf.

Okina, Kunio, Masaaki Shirakawa, and Shigenori Shiratsuka. 2001. “The Asset Price Bubble and Monetary Policy: Japan's Experience in the Late 1980s and the Lessons: Background Paper.” Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan 19 (S1): 395-450.

Pu, Xiaoyu. 2019. “To Dream an Impossible Dream: China’s Visions of Regional Order and the Implications for Japan.” In: Japan and Asia’s Contested Order. The Interplay of Security, Economics, and Identity, edited by Yul Sohn, and T. J. Pempel, 65-84. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0256-5_4.

Reinhart, Carmen M., and Kenneth S. Rogoff. 2009. “The Aftermath of Financial Crises.” NBER Working Papers 14656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

Ruan, Yong Xin, and Charles T. L. Leung. 2021. “Experiences of and Responses to COVID-19 in East Asia: The Cases of Japan and Korea.” In: COVID-19 Pandemic, Crisis Responses and the Changing World, edited by Simon X.B. Zhao, Johnston H.C. Wong, Charles Lowe, Edoardo Monaco, and John Corbett, 137-147. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2430-8_8.

Shibata, Saori. 2017. “Re-packaging old policies? ‘Abenomics’ and the lack of an alternative growth model for Japan’s political economy.” Japan Forum 29 (3): 399-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/09555803.2017.1284143.

Solís, Mireya, and Shujiro Urata. 2018. Abenomics and Japan's Trade Policy in a New Era. Asian Economic Policy Review 13 (1): 106-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12205.

Song, Jiyeoun. 2015 “Economic Empowerment of Women as the Third Arrow of Abenomics.” Journal of International and Area Studies 22 (1): 113-128. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43490283.

Sugiura, Eri. 2020. “Japan tourism faces 80% drop as coronavirus threatens Abenomics: Economists question wisdom of heavy reliance on tourism for rural revival.” Nikkei Inc., April 17, 2020. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japan-tourism-faces-80-drop-as-coronavirus-threatens-Abenomics.

Tashiro, Ai. 2022. “COVID-19 Vaccination Trends and Public Views and Responses in Japan.” In: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreaks, Vaccination, Politics and Society, edited by Rais Akhtar, 67-81. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09432-3_5.

Wakatabe, Masazumi. 2015a. The Future Again? The Assessment of Abenomics. In: Japan’s Great Stagnation and Abenomics, 113-139. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137438850_5.

Wakatabe, Masazumi. 2015b. Concluding Remarks: Beware of Japanization. In: Japan’s Great Stagnation and Abenomics, 141-159. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137438850_6.

Watanabe, Yorizumi. 2018. “Tariff Wars and the TPP: The Japan-US Trade Face-off under Trump.” Global Asia (East Asia Foundation) 13 (2): 26-31.

Yoda, Takeshi. 2023. “A Chronology of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.” In: Sustainability, Diversity, and Equality: Key Challenges for Japan. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol. 13, edited by Kimiko Tanaka, and Helaine Selin, 67-75. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36331-3_5.

Downloads

Published

2023-09-29

How to Cite

Chuguryan, S., Baculakova, K. ., & Kucharcik, R. . (2023). The Smart Power of Abenomics: Shadows of Japanization and Long-term Challenges. Journal of Political Science: Bulletin of Yerevan University, 2(2(5), 100–115. https://doi.org/10.46991/JOPS/2023.2.5.100

Issue

Section

Public Policy