Abstract
We investigated economic stagnation in two major industries, food processing and electronics, in Tottori prefecture. These two major industries have been stagnant since the latter half of the 1990's. Compared to the national trend for each industry, they showed greater and longer slump. The structural characteristics of both industries are the main factors of stagnation. There are three factors in the food processing industry. First, a shortage in raw materials caused the price of products to become very high. Second, the attitude of consumers toward food has changed. Third, the rise of big supermarkets and other economic factors have brought pressure for low prices to the market. The food-processing industry in Tottori has not adapted well to these changes. In the electronics industry, small and medium sized companies have been agglomerated under large companies invited from other prefectures. In addition, the electronics industry of Japan extensively moved operations to other Asian countries during the 1990's. The electronics industry in Tottori has not been able to change its structural characteristics and has faced stagnation with a decrease in small and medium sized companies during this time.
JEL classifications: R10, R11
