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Nuclear reactors in Japan: Who asks for them, what do they do?

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  • J. Mark Ramseyer

    (Harvard Law School)

Abstract

Japanese communities with nuclear reactors have them because they applied for them, and they applied for them for the money. Among Japanese municipalities, they were some of the most dysfunctional before the reactors had even arrived. These were the villages that had long fought for targeted subsidies, but ignored infrastructural investments. Subsidies operate as a regressive tax on out-migration, of course, and the lack of private-sector infrastructure reduces the returns to high-value human capital. As a result, these were the villages from which the most talented young people had probably begun to disappear—even before the reactors arrived. After the communities built the reactors, talented young people continued to leave. Unemployment rose. Divorce rates climbed. And in time, the communities had little other than reactor-revenue on which to rely.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Mark Ramseyer, 2020. "Nuclear reactors in Japan: Who asks for them, what do they do?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 7-32, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:49:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10657-017-9561-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-017-9561-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gordon Tullock, 1975. "The Transitional Gains Trap," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(2), pages 671-678, Autumn.
    2. Ramseyer, J Mark, 1989. "Water Law in Imperial Japan: Public Goods, Private Claims, and Legal Convergence," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 51-77, January.
    3. Murray, Charles, 1993. "Welfare and the Family: The U.S. Experience," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 224-262, January.
    4. Kato, Takaaki & Takahara, Shogo & Nishikawa, Masashi & Homma, Toshimitsu, 2013. "A case study of economic incentives and local citizens' attitudes toward hosting a nuclear power plant in Japan: Impacts of the Fukushima accident," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 808-818.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, July.
    6. Ando, Michihito, 2015. "Dreams of urbanization: Quantitative case studies on the local impacts of nuclear power facilities using the synthetic control method," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 68-85.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nuclear power; Social capital; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H84 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Disaster Aid
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities

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