2015 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 75-84
The importance of municipal governments in coping with complex environmental issues has been addressed in Japan. However, the focus has been mainly on policy measures, not to the organizations that establish and implement such policies. In this paper, a questionnaire survey conducted among all municipalities in the Kinki region reveals the diversity in structure of environmental policy organizations in terms of their size, degree of divided sections, and coordination between different policy sections. This study also examines the factors affecting organizational structure. Quantitative empirical analysis reveals that not only the size of municipal governments, but each mayor's policy preferences and the establishment of a basic environmental ordinance influence the types of organizational structure used for implementing municipal environmental policy. In order to fully understand these diverse policy organizations, further research is needed on the relationship between policy and organization.
