Impact of the 2010s Regime Change on Agricultural Policy Expenditure and Revenue in Municipalities: Focus on Public Investment in Agricultural Infrastructure

Abstract

This paper examines public agricultural infrastructure investment, clarifying the impact of expansion in central government grants after the 2010s regime change on municipal expenditure and revenue. Expenditure on grant-aided projects with central government subsidies expanded while that on local independent unsubsidized projects fell. Such changes in the expenditure pattern increased prefectural government expenditure within municipal revenue, while ordinary fiscal resources declined. There was, therefore, a dichotomy between municipalities in public agricultural infrastructure investment, where investment by municipalities engaging in grant-aided projects increased while that by ones engaging in local independent unsubsidized projects declined.