Analyses & Alternatives (분석과 대안)

Korea Consensus Institute(KCI) (사단법인 코리아컨센서스연구원)
권호 표지

Consume More for the Economy or Less for the Environment? Conflicts Between Economic and Environmental Remedies in Japan

  • Received : 2019.08.15
  • Accepted : 2019.09.27
  • Published : 2019.09.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

How can we reconcile our aspirations for more economic growth or prosperity with the constraints of a finite planet? One of the high-income countries, Japan, makes us wonder if we can deal with two different challenges simultaneously: overcoming economic recession and solving environmental degradation. This study investigates the supply-side perspective which highlights the productive capacity and efficiency of the economy through economic lenses and the demand-side perspective which highlights the Japanese personal lifestyles through social lenses. This study aims to answer the question, if Japan's sustainable consumption behavior is counter to economic development whilst environmentally proactive. It finds that translating individual practices and cultures of sustainability into the macro- scopic economic growth path is key to a sustainable and healthy Japan.

Keywords

References

  1. Aoyagi-Usui, Midori, Henk, Vinken, Kuribayashi, Atsuko. (2003). Proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors: an international comparison. Human Ecology Review, 10(1), 23-31.
  2. Asia's 1997 crash: Its character, causes and consequences. In: Frank-Jurgen Richter (ed) The East Asian development model: economic growth, institutional failure and the aftermath of the crisis. London, Macmillan Press LTD, pp 17-52.
  3. Christensen, Jens H.E. and Spiegel, Mark M. (2019) Negative Interest Rates and Inflation Expectations in Japan. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
  4. Conca, Ken, Princen, Thomas, and Maniates, Michael F. (2001). Confronting consumption. Global Environmental Politics, 1(3), 1-12.
  5. Crotty, James. (2019). Keynes Against Capitalism: His Economic Case for Social Liberalism. London, Routledge.
  6. Dauvergne, Peter. (2010). The problem of consumption. Global Environmental Politics, 10(2), 1-10.
  7. Deudney, Daniel. (1990). The case against linking environmental degradation and national security. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 19(3), 461-476.
  8. Dilley, Luke T. M. (2015). Governing our choices: 'Proenvironmental behaviour' as a practice of government. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 33, 272-299.
  9. Eden, S. E. (1993). Individual environmental responsibility and its role in public environmentalism. Environment and Planning A, 25, 1743-1758.
  10. Fensom, Anthony. (2016, February 20). Is Abenomics dead? If it is to be saved, the government needs to start thinking about working people. The Diplomat, http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/is-abenomics-dead/
  11. Friedman, Milton. (2002). Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
  12. Gamble, A. (2001). Neo-liberalism. Capital & class, 25(3), 127-134.
  13. Gibson, Chris, Head, Lesley, Gill, Nick, and Waitt, Gordon. (2010). Climate change and household dynamics: beyond consumption, unbounding sustainability. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 36(1), 3?8.
  14. Global Footprint Network. (2016). Public data package. http://www.footprintnetwork.org/licenses/public-data-package-free-edition/
  15. Hayek. F. A. (1944). The road to serfdom. UK, Routledge Press.
  16. Hinchliffe, Steve. (1996). Helping the earth begins at home: the social Construction of Socioenvironmental Responsibilities. Global Environmental Change 6(1):53-62.
  17. Horioka, Charles Yuji. (1994). Japan's consumption and saving in international perspective. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 42(2), 293-316.
  18. IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)). 1980. World conservation strategy: Living resource conservation for sustainable development. https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/wcs-004.pdf
  19. Jackson, Tim. (2005). Motivating sustainable consumption: A review of evidence on consumer behaviour and behavioural Change. http://www.sustainablelifestyles.ac.uk/sites/default/files/motivating_sc_final.pdf
  20. Jackson, Tim. (2009). Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. Oxford: Earthscan.
  21. Johnson, Chalmers. (1982). MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy. 1025-1975, Chapter 1, Stanford University Press.
  22. Keynes, John Maynard. (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  23. Kraus, Ellis S. (1992). Political Economy: Policymaking and Industrial Policy in Japan. PS: Political Science and Politics, 25 (1), 44-57.
  24. Lowe, P. D., and Wolfgang, R. (1986). Review article: Political ecology and the social sciences-the state of the art. British Journal of Political Science, 16, 513-550.
  25. Maniates, Michael F. (2001). Individualization: plant a tree, buy a bike, save the world? Global Environmental Politics, 1(3), 31-52.
  26. Marangos J. (2013). Postwar Japan: From the economic miracle to the bubble economy. In: Consistency and Viability of Capitalist Economic Systems. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
  27. Marrakech Process Secretariat. (Unknown year). The Marrakech process. https://esa.un.org/marrakechprocess/taskforces.shtml
  28. Nafziger, E. Wayne. (2012). Economic Development. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
  29. National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan. (2012). Population projections for Japan (January 2012): 2011 to 2060. http://www.ipss.go.jp/site-ad/index_english/esuikei/ppfj2012.pdf
  30. Otsubo, Shigeru T. (2007). Post-war development of war development of the Japanese economy the Japanese economy: development, Japanese/Asian Style development, Japanese/Asian style. https://www.gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp/sotsubo/Postwar_Development_of_the _Japanese%Economy(Otsubo_NagoyaU).pdf
  31. Robins, Fred. (2000). Asia's 1997 crash: Its character, causes and consequences. In: Frank-Jurgen Richter (ed) The East Asian development model: economic growth, institutional failure and the aftermath of the crisis. London, Macmillan Press LTD, pp 17-52.
  32. Rosenbluth, Frances, and Thies, Michael F. (1999). The political economy of Japanese pollution regulation. http://leitner.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/resources/docs/1999-01.pdf
  33. Schoppa, Leonard J. (2006). Race for the exits: the unraveling of Japan's system of social protection. Cornell University Press.
  34. Shove, Elizabeth. (2010a). Beyond the ABC: climate change policies and theories of social change. Environment and Planning A, 42, 1273-1285.
  35. Shove, Elizabeth. (2010b). Social theory and climate change: questions often, sometimes and not yet asked. Theory, Culture and Society, 27, 277-288.
  36. Singh, Ajit. (1998). Savings, investment and the corporation in the East Asian miracle, The Journal of Development Studies, 34:6, 112-137.
  37. Soble, Jonathan. (2016, February 15). Rising Yen adds to Abe's challenges as Japan's economy contracts. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/business/international/japan-economy-abenomics-yen.html?_r=0
  38. Song, Jiyeon. (2015). Economic empowerment of women as the third arrow of Abenomics. Journal of International and Area Studies, 22(1), 113-28.
  39. Speth, James Gustave, and Haas, Peter. (2006). Foundations of contemporary environmental studies: global environmental governance. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.
  40. Thang, Leng Leng. (2011). Aging and social welfare in Japan. In: Victoria Lyon Bestor, Theodore C. Bestor, and Akiko Yamagata (eds) Routledge handbook of Japanese culture and society. Oxon, Routledge, pp 172-185.
  41. UN (The United Nations). (1992). Agenda 21. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
  42. UN. (2002). Plan of implementation of the world summit on sustainable development. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/WSSD_PlanImpl.pdf
  43. UNDP (The United Nations Development Programme). (1990). Human development report 1990. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf
  44. UNDP. (1998). Human development report 1998. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/259/hdr_1998_en_complete_nostats.pdf
  45. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). (2011). Vision for change: recommendations for effective policies on sustainable lifestyles. http://www.unep.org/pdf/DTIx1321xPA-VisionsForChange%report.pdf
  46. Watanabe, M. (1995). "Gendai no Nihon-jin no Shizen-kan: Seiyo tono Hikaku (The Japanese view of nature in the modern era: A comparison with Westerners)." In Japanese View of Nature, edited by Shuntaro Ito. Tokyo: Kawade Publishers.
  47. White, Lynn, Jr. (1967). The historical roots of our ecological crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207.
  48. World Bank. (2017a). GDP per capita (current US$). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
  49. World Bank. (2017b). Household final consumption expenditure per capita (constant 2010 US$)." http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD?locations=JP
  50. World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our Common Future. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf