Legacy Effects of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Civic Engagement

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H01452
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 06010:Politics-related
• Research Institution: Keio University (2020-2022); International University of Japan (2019)
• Principal Investigator: SHINOHARA Shugo 慶應義塾大学, 総合政策学部(藤沢), 准教授 (00822751)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: オリンピック / 疑似実験 / 市民と政府

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The COVID-19 pandemic led Tokyo 2020 to be the first postponed Olympics. Banning foreign visitors and onsite spectators, the Games were held in 2021, which brought few short-term benefits to the host city. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) maintains that Tokyo 2020 will create long-term benefits for the host city through Olympic legacy. This study tests the IOC’s claimed legacy, particularly the Olympics’ long-term benefits for the relationship between the host city government and citizens. It adopts a difference-in-differences design between 2019 and 2022 that compares Tokyo residents with Nagoya and Osaka residents. The study conducted a four-wave online survey in which 3,115 Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka residents rated policy outputs, process, and trust in their city governments. The analysis reveals the negative effects of the Olympics on Tokyo citizens’ evaluations of policy outputs and process (p < .1) and their trust in the government (p < .05).

Free Research Field

行政学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

オリンピックが開催都市に与える影響の既存分析は、経済効果を中心にほとんど影響がないことを定量的に示してきた。しかしながら、オリンピックの長期的社会効果(社会レガシー)については定量的検証がされていない。本研究は、4 年に亘る初の社会レガシーの定量分析であり、分析結果はオリンピックが開催都市政府と市民との関係に負の影響を与える可能性を示した。疑似実験手法は負の影響を厳密に証明しえないが、IOC が主張する長期的正の社会効果がない可能性を示唆する。本研究は、開催都市の税金を用いて開催されるオリンピックの民主的意義について新たな議論を提起する。