Dynamism of Farm Household and Policy Evaluation in Japan: An Empirical Study Using Micro-data

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H03881
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Agricultural science in management and economy
• Research Institution: Meiji University
• Principal Investigator: FUJIE Takeshi 明治大学, 農学部, 専任准教授 (40356316)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 仙田 徹志 京都大学, 学術情報メディアセンター, 准教授 (00325325) ; 中谷 朋昭 東京大学, 農学部, 准教授 (60280864) ; 庄司 匡宏 東京大学, 社会科学研究所, 准教授 (20555289) ; 中嶋 晋作 明治大学, 農学部, 専任講師 (00569494) ; 高山 太輔 福島大学, 食農学類, 准教授 (50612743) ; 高橋 大輔 拓殖大学, 政経学部, 教授 (30619812)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 政策評価 / ミクロデータ / 農業・農村政策

Outline of Final Research Achievements

There is little empirical evidence or quantitative evaluation of Japan’s agricultural or rural policy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of agricultural structure, farm management and agri-environmental policy, and to clarify the dynamics of the rural sector using micro-data such as farm-level data from agricultural censuses. Our findings indicate that the incorporation of farm management had positive effects on agricultural sales, and less-favoured areas payments fostered continued land use and prevented farmland abandonment through maintenance of farm households and household members, though these effects are modest. Additionally, we found that agricultural subsidies had a slight impact on increasing the proportion of farmland rents and that the level of community functions, such as the number of local meetings were positively associated with the farmland consolidation of community farming.

Free Research Field

農業経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

わが国の農業経済分野において研究蓄積が乏しかった，ミクロデータによる家計・経営体レベルからの政策評価や，集計データでは明らかにできない，農業・農村の動態やダイナミズムを定量的に明らかにし，農業・農村政策の改善・立案に資する基礎的かつ多様な知見を導出した。