On the Japanese Contribution to the Equalization of World Income

Abstract

We evaluated the present Japanese contribution to the equalization of world income and discussed about desirable revision of Japanese policies. Japan can contribute to the equalization through private economic activities, by liberalizing imports in agricultural products, and relaxing restrictions on immigration. In the case of the official development assistance (ODA), Japan should allocate more to meet basic human needs in low-income economies. Using a framework of impure public goods, we also estimated how much the ODA has characteristics of a provision of international public goods. We found that only for the U.S. aid has some characteristics of public goods.