A Simple Indicator of Local Government's Economic Policy: Example from Japan’s New Local Revitalization Policy

Japan’s new local revitalization plan is unique in that the national government has asked local governments to form their own initiatives; and we can expect that there will be various ideas from the perspectives of local residents. However, it is important to note that not all local governments considered the actions of their competitors and neighboring governments. Currently, Japanese industries are so interconnected that we cannot ignore the actions of others. In this paper, we propose a simple indicator that policy makers can use to determine the focus for the local economy.