酒類販売統制機関の実態 : 1941年～1945年における資金調整

抄録

Sales control agencies, civilian-run organizations created at the behest of the Japanese government, were established in wartime Japan in two fields of business. One was the buying and selling of goods, the other was for payment of compensation to wholesalers that had gone out of business. The latter was not an easy task for the sales control agency. Vast funds were necessary for compensation payments, yet it was difficult for the sales control agency to obtain sufficient profit because the buying and selling of goods was restricted by the distribution control agency. Consequently, it was necessary for the sales control agency to raise further capital through internal adjustments. The aim of this study is to clarify how the sales control agency raised sufficient capital for a business compensation fund, using as examples two liquor sales control agencies, the "Greater Japan Liquor Sales Company" (GLC) and the "Prefectural Liquor Sales Company" (PLC). The financial statements of the GLC and PLC show that initially the PLC paid compensation to businesses out of its operating profit. However, after 1943, the GLC funded the PLC's compensation payments. Much of the PLC's business profit was transferred to the GLC, which then redistributed a portion of it to the PLC. In other words, the GLC carried out the capital adjustments required for compensation payments. This redistribution began because of the emergence of regional differences in compensation payments. After capital redistribution by the GLC, regional disparities in compensation payments were reduced. However, over the same period, the volume of liquor production deteriorated, reducing the ability of the sales control agency to fund compensation payments from its income and consequently compensation payments were restricted. In other words, the sales control agency created a structure to redistribute operating profit to fund compensation payments.