Analysis of the Economic Effects of the Tourism Policy Budget on the Residents’ Income in the Disaster Reconstruction Area

―Analysis of the Economic Ripple Effect of the Tourism Policy Budget on Matsushima Town and Onagawa Town, the Great East Japan Earthquake Area―

Abstract

The purpose of this study is the verification of if the tourism policy budget of the national and local governments functioned effectively as the residents’ income in the disaster reconstruction area. In this study, I estimated and compared the economic ripple effects between the tourism policy budget and the same amount of subsidies to the residents in Matsushima Town and Onagawa Town, the Great East Japan Earthquake area. The results showed that the budget functioned to the residents in the area with minimal damage such as Matsushima Town to a certain extent , but functioned little in the seriously damaged area such as Onagawa Town until they were restored to their pre-disaster state.