The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms

This volume seeks to explain the political economy of the Abe government and the so-called 'Abenomics' economic policies. The Abe government represents a major turning point in postwar Japanese political economy. In 2019, Abe became the longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. Abe's government stood out not only for its longevity, but also for its policies. Abe came to power promising to reinvigorate Japan's economy under the banner of Abenomics. He pursed a host of structural reforms and industrial promotions to increase Japan's potential growth rate. Abe also achieved important legislative victories in security policy. However, the government also faced significant controversies. The book will hold appeal to scholars and students specializing in the study of Japanese politics, comparative political economy, the politics of contemporary advanced democracies, macroeconomic policy, labor market reforms, corporate governance, gender equality, agricultural reforms, energy and climate change, and East Asian security.

Part I. Introduction: 1. The political economy of the Abe government Takeo Hoshi and Phillip Y. Lipscy; Part II. Political Context: 2. Expansion of the Japanese Prime Minister's power and transformation of Japanese politics Harukata Takenaka; 3. Why does the Abe government's approval rating always recover? Masaru Kohno; 4. The LDP under Abe Yukio Maeda and Steven R. Reed; 5. The third arrow of Abenomics: est. in 2013 – or 2007? Takatoshi Ito; Part III. Macroeconomic Policy: 6. Abenomics, monetary policy, and consumption Joshua K. Hausman, Takashi Unayama and Johannes F. Wieland; 7. The great disconnect: the decoupling of wage and price inflation in Japan Takeo Hoshi and Anil K. Kashyap; 8. Abenomics, the exchange rate, and markup dynamics in Japanese industries Kyoji Fukao and Shuichiro Nishioka; 9. The crisis that wasn't: How Japan has avoided a bond market panic Mark Bamba and David E. Weinstein; Part IV. Third Arrow of Abenomics: 10. Abe's slight left turn: how a labor shortage transformed politics and policy Steven K. Vogel; 11. Abe's Womenomics policy: did it reduce the gender gap in management? Nobuko Nagase; 12. Corporate governance reforms under Abenomics: the economic consequences of two codes Hideaki Miyajima and Takuji Saito; 13. Abenomics and Japan's entrepreneurship and innovation: is the third arrow pointed in the right direction for global competition in the silicon valley era? Kenji E. Kushida; 14. Japanese agricultural reform under Abenomics Patricia L. Maclachlan and Kay Shimizu; 15. The politics of energy and climate change in Japan under the Abe government Trevor Incerti and Phillip Y. Lipscy; Part V. Foreign Policy: 16. Japan's defense reforms under Abe: assessing institutional and policy change Adam P. Liff; 17. The enduring challenges of history issues Mary M. McCarthy.

Takeo Hoshi is Professor of Economics at the University of Tokyo. His research interests includes corporate finance, banking, monetary policy and the Japanese economy. He received the 2015 Japanese Bankers Academic Research Promotion Foundation Award, 2006 Enjoji Jiro Memorial Prize of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the 2005 Japan Economic Association-Nakahara Prize. His book Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan: The Road to the Future (2001) co-authored with Anil Kashyap received the Nikkei Award for the Best Economics Books. He co-authored The Japanese Economy (2020) with Takatoshi Ito. Hoshi received his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Phillip Y. Lipscy is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. He researches international and comparative political economy with a focus on Japan. He is author of Renegotiating the World Order: Institutional Change in International Relations (2017) and co-editor of Japan under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition and Governance (2013). Lipscy obtained his PhD in political science at Harvard University, an MA in international policy studies and BA in economics and political science at Stanford University.