This article reports the 11th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists International Conference, held in Tokyo in March 2023. It introduces the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists and explains the background of the conference. The content includes an overview of the conference theme and program, the breakdown of participants by countries/regions, conference awards, and social events, as well as the details on the preparation and operations. The report then reviews the plenary speeches and individual presentations, discussing current research trends in agricultural economics, and making recommendations to the Agricultural Economics Society of Japan. The aim is for this report to offer valuable insights for future international conferences hosted by Japan, providing useful information for planning and organizing such events.

This study aims to examine the changes in the fiscal structure of all municipalities by analyzing fiscal data from 1995 to 2015. The results show that, first, the role of local allocation tax in total revenue has weakened over the study period. Second, the share of social welfare expenses in total expenditures has increased overall. Additionally, this share tends to be higher in urban municipalities. Third, urban municipalities increasingly tend to have limited fiscal flexibility and less fiscal leeway to implement discretionary policies.

In light of changes in foreign worker acceptance policies, this report analyzes the actual state of specified skilled worker system utilization in Hokkaido agriculture and discuss issues in responding to the current new system. The wider range of work that foreigners can engage in and the wider range of employment options have made it possible for Hokkaido’s agriculture industry to secure foreign human resources in a variety of ways. In the future, a major point of discussion will be how to go about “securing and developing human resources” in a way that is consistent with the direction of the new system, given the actual situation on the ground.

This paper examines conservation awareness and efforts of Countryside Stay managers regarding traditional farming methods and food. Countryside Stay in the Nishi-Awa region mainly targets elementary and junior high school students, and more than half of the managers engage in the activity as a side business. The analysis indicates that Countryside Stay in the region can be classified into three types according to their management stance. It is suggested that the type of Countryside Stay managers shows different influences on the awareness and the actions to conserve traditional farming methods and food.

The effects and determinants of organic JAS certification are unclear. This paper aims to clarify the role of corporate governance in obtaining organic JAS certification and to demonstrate the improvement of financial outcomes through improved management capital using a questionnaire survey of 835 fagricultural corporations. The main results are as follows. First, the size of the JAS-certified agricultural corporations was larger than others. Second, corporate governance had a positive impact on obtaining organic JAS certification. Third, the organic JAS-certified agricultural corporations achieved higher financial outcomes through various management capital improvements.

In Abashiri City, located in the Okhotsk area, thereae areas where farming groups exist in villages and labor and agricultural machinery are shared through a cooperative system. This allows for large-scale cultivation. In particular, the use association system in the Minami Abashiri district is a model for agricultural policy in terms of the organization of community farming. Therefore, this paper focuses on the user cooperatives in the South Abashiri district. The purpose of this paper is to compare the variation in farmland use and farmwork hours, and the associated shadow work hours.

This study aims to examine the differences among the silage production costs of grassland fields and the economy of farmland accumulation in TMR Centers. The main outcomes are as follows. First, the differences among the silage production costs of grassland fields are due to differences in yield. Second, the silage production cost in the grassland fields which was released by discontinuance of farming is higher than the price of silage sold to external parties. Third, farmland accumulation increases the silage production cost. Therefore, improving the yield and price is necessary to maintain the farmland.

This study aims to clarify the knowledge possession and intention to pass it on, concerning local food among rural elderly women by comparing individuals and local communities. The results showed that individuals possessed only tacit knowledge; though the community possessed tacit knowledge even as knowledge was formalized, individuals lost conventional opportunities for collaboration. In addition, the communities shrank their activities so that the function of succession declined; individuals have little intention to pass on knowledge and such intentions in the communities were discouraged by a lack of resources and opportunities. The future succession should involve reconstruction of the knowledge transfer mechanism and management of the knowledge itself.

The objective of this study is to determine the effects and factors of increasing the work engagement of employees of agricultural corporations. The main outcomes are as follows. First, work engagement positively impacts employees’ organizational commitment, sense of fulfillment, and autonomy. Enhancing work engagement can foster positive attitudes toward work and increase productivity. Second, work engagement is influenced by both personal resources and job resources, with job-related factors being more significant. It is particularly important for employees to experience success in their daily tasks and for their individual intentions to be respected.

This research investigates the impact of robot milking on family-owned dairy businesses’ operations and socio-economics. Interviews with five Hokkaido dairy farms focused on the reasons for adopting robot milking, changes in daily work, and labor impacts. Findings indicate that aims to introduce robot milking primarily vary on a farm’s lifecycle to expand operational scale and reduce labor demands, offering benefits like fewer working hours and more flexible schedules. However, it may increase workload related to nursing and calving, potentially keeping or raising overall working hours. The ultimate effects vary by business, underscoring the need for continued analysis in different contexts.