A feature examining whether supporting small and medium-sized enterprises will revitalize the Japanese economy has been published. It traces trends in small and medium-sized enterprise policy and employment, and points to the difficulties of improving productivity. The article is an excerpted and edited version of commentaries by researchers including those from Nagoya University of Commerce and Business.
A commentary examines the policies implemented to date and employment trends in response to the view that supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting growth will revitalize the Japanese economy. The authors do not endorse a simple causal relationship and instead focus on the limitations of the available data and analysis.
The article traces the historical development of small and medium-sized enterprise policy and employment trends, and examines why these have been unlikely to lead to higher productivity. It points to the limits of short-term support in bringing about structural efficiency improvements.
The article consists of excerpts from and edits to part of <i>Considering Government Spending</i>, a book by Harada Tai (原田泰), Inoue Tomohiro (井上智洋), and Nakazato Toru (中里透), and organizes the issues around the researchers’ views. It presents a perspective that considers the effects of education and fiscal policy, as well as enterprise support, in an integrated manner.
Diamond Online is cited as the supporting outlet, and the article as a whole is presented as content based on reporting by that outlet.