We have been studying the formulation and revision of recovery plans after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and have verified the impact of support measures such as group subsidies and interest subsidies on the level of corporate activity, demonstrating the existence of recovery acceleration effects. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted again in FY2021 to understand the business conditions and management status of companies in the affected areas after the reconstruction and creation period. This survey shows the new trends in economic recovery in terms of firms' reopening, closure, relocation, and new construction. Lastly, since the focus of national reconstruction policy has shifted to areas affected by the accident of nuclear power plant, we also began analyzing the processes of reconstruction and regional revitalization and the actual conditions of harmful rumors on agricultural products, referring to the experiences in Europe and Russia after the Chernobyl accident.

This research investigated characters and developments of the “Third Sector" with respect to the role of providing public services. From a viewpoint of theories, institutional setting and the historical development, this research compared Japanese Third Sector including nonprofit organizations to European and American ones. As a result, it is found that the behavioral principle of the Third Sector is characterized “altruistic" and the character can be seen often in insurance organizations. In the field of social security Japanese government made institutions, organizations of pensions and social services in contrast to European countries, where these institutions were established originally by the Third Sector themselves and admitted by the governments afterwards.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the phenomenon that some fiscal institutions, e.g. local government fiscal equalization, function in a different way from the purpose planned at first. First, we examined the role of the state in Institutional Economics in detail and found out that more attention should be needed, not on the Neo-Institutional Economics, but on the economic and fiscal theory in Germany and Austria, that has a long tradition from 19th century. Second, a comparative study on the formation of the institutions in social insurance and public assistance of Japan and Germany suggests that local governments and non-profit organizations, the main providers of welfare services, enjoy fiscal and managerial autonomy in Germany because of general grants. In contrast to that, those intermediary organizations in Japan strongly depend on special grants from the central government. It is crucial to this difference whether an idea "The Principle of Subsidiarity" exists in welfare.

In this research we have employed the fiscal sociology approach in order to conduct comparative research on the decision-making process of tax reform. In the course of this research, we have examined Japan and other countries' national and local taxation from the perspective of history and the present. We have examined tax-policymaking and intergovernmental fiscal relations via interviews, research on primary documents, and other means. We have also published the results of this research at conference, as papers in journals, and have assembled them in final form for this research report. In order, the sections of this report address the following : 1)the overview of the research depicts the variables of most concern when employing the fiscal sociology method in the study of fiscal processes (Jinno Naohiko) 2)an analysis of the political economy of tax cuts undertaken in the US since 2001 (Andrew DeWit) 3)an analysis of Japan's fiscal politics, centring on the clash among vested interests and institutions (Andrew DeWit) 4)an analysis of intergovernmental tax allocation and fiscal autonomy in Canada and Japan, with the general consumption tax as the focus of empirical study. This study highlights both countries' intergovernmental fiscal relations and tax policymaking in the context of their respective history and institutional characteristics (Ikegami Takehiko) 5)a study of the respective tax burdens, tax structures and "fiscal federalism" of America and Canada, with special attention to citizens' assessments of the public sector, political institutions, historical context, and other factors (Ikegami Takehiko, Andrew DeWit) 6)a comparison of Japanese and German taxation and social security fees, with special attention to elderly care insurance. In Germany, the principles of subsidiarity and cooperative federalism are contrasted with the Japanese case, where these factors do not exist and did not give rise to elderly care insurance (Sasaki Norio) 7)against the backdrop of globalization, close research using the cases of America, Japan, Germany and Sweden, shows that the tax burdens and structures vary greatly and that there is no convergence on a single model (Seven Steinmo).