A Study of the Impact of the Appreciation of the Yen on the Rural Labor Market

随着日元在20世纪90年代走强，日本企业将生产转移到东南亚。因此，日本农村地区的许多工厂都关闭了。这反过来又引发了人们对这些地区潜在的就业机会丧失和制造业基地被神化的担忧。在这项研究中，一项调查被送往日本东北部农业区(东北地区)的地方政府机构，试图确定20世纪90年代农村工业方向的变化。80%的政府机构做出了回应，从收集的数据中发现，其中40%的机构至少有一起或多起制造业企业缩减生产或完全退出的情况。此外，自1993年以来，这些数字显示出明显的增长。分行业看，东北北部是服装生产，南部是电器电子产品…制造。更多受到特别严重打击的TS。然而，负责处理这种情况的地方官员的反应一直很弱，大多数人只是继续努力维持现状。随后，研究将重点转向秋田县的两个地方机构。人们发现，在其他方面非常相似的地方机构中，工厂退出或缩减生产的程度存在显著差异。这些差异表明了地方企业和地方政府之间日常沟通的重要性。我们还调查了宫城县的一家电子产品制造商，该公司关闭了一家工厂。1993年，尽管该公司在日本关闭了4家工厂，但它在中国的7个地点建设了工厂，并已有50%的生产在海外进行。从这家厂商的例子可以预见，国内电子产品产量将继续下降。另一方面，人们也必须注意到国内食品加工产量的增加。较少

As the Japanese yen gathered strength in the 1990s, Japanese enterprises shifted production to Southeast Asia. As a result, many factories in rural areas of Japan were closed. This in turn has raised concerns about the potential loss of employment opportunities and a hallowing out of the manufacturing base in these areas.For this study, a survey was sent to local government bodies in farming areas in Northeast Japan (the Tohoku region) in an effort to determine changes in the direction of rural industry in the 1990s. 80 percent of the government bodies responded and from the data collected it was found that in 40 percent of them there was at least one case or more of scaled-down production or total pullout by a manufacturing concern. These numbers have, moreover, showed a marked increase since 1993. Looking at the situation industry by industry, in northern Tohoku, it has been clothing production, whereas in southern Tohoku it has been the manufacure of electrical and electronic produc … More ts which have been particularly hard hit. However, the response of local officials responsible for dealing with this situation has been weak.Most simply continue to try and maintain the status quo.The study then turned its focus to two local bodies in Akita Prefecture. It was discovered that in local bodies which otherwise closely resembled one another, there were significant differences in the extent to which factories have pulled out or scaled back production. These differences suggst the importance of daily communication between local enterprises and local government. We also surveyed an electronics manufacturer in Miyagi Prefecture which had closed down one of its plants. In 1993, even as this company was shutting down 4 plants in Japan, it was constructing plants in 7 locations in China and was already carrying out 50 percent of its production abroad. From the example of this manufacturer, it can be predicted that domestic electronics production will continue to drop. On the other hand, one must also note an increase in domestic food processing production. Less